Starship Oblivion
by Dreamy Duskywing
Summary: A spaceship isn't the ideal environment to grow up in.  Meet the thirteen children who are forced to deal with it.  AU maybe a little OOC.  Change of rating because I couldn't resist a teeny bit of yaoi!
1. Teaching us what life is about

**A.N -** Hey, I'm a new author, this is my very first fanfic! I would love any creative critisism. Let me know what you think. I reckon this could be a stand alone, however, there's a possibility that I have a few ideas to write a chapter for each developmental stage of the children's lives! You know...teenagers, adults...oldies perhaps.

I'm a big akuroku fan, I love their romantic relationship, but they're only little, so for now they're just 'bestest friends' xD

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Ooops, almost forgot!

**Disclaimer : -** I do not, nor do I ever expect to own Kingdom Hearts, the characters contained within this story have merely been borrowed! :)

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**Starship Oblivion**

**I**

A space ship isn't the place for a child. Ask any of the children on board the _Oblivion _and they'd tell you they were happy, but that they'd like more space in which to play, to run, to be children. The on board kymnasi wasn't the same as running under the sky, dirt side, on a planet filled with smells and unfiltered air. Even though the children's kymnasi, unlike the one for the crew, was built in a holo-deck so that when they ran on the treadmills, they seemed to be dirt side, it just wasn't the same. Space wasn't the ideal place to grow up, but adults could not be expected to forgo their lives and that included having a family. So the _Oblivion _had been designed with children in mind and had plenty of space and resources to support a growing community on board. The first child to inhabit the ship was Xigbar who'd turned seven just before his parents had joined the exploration mission. It had been lonely for the dark haired, golden eyed child for almost a whole year before the Captain had sired a son. Xemnas was the first baby born on a space craft. The first human child to be bought up in an AGS (accelerated growth system) pod. The flower-like pods nurtured the child, accelerating their growth so that they reached the physical and greater mental capability of a five year old in as many months. This meant that the child's brain was able to create many more synapse paths than the average human. By the time Xemnas was released from the AGS, he could speak five languages fluently, understand formulas and had a firm grasp on molecular science, the pod nurtured the brain and was programmed to teach the child things needed every day in the life of a space explorer. Many people would have suggested this amazing child should be allowed to develop to maturity in the AGS, but those on board the _Oblivion _firmly believed in the benefits of having a childhood. So Xemnas joined Xigbar in the nursery section of the ship, learning the skills they'd need to become an integral part of whatever they decided they were going to be when they grew up, and since they were young, their decision changed weekly.

It wasn't long before the children on board numbered eleven. Many of the children began to show specific interest in various fields of study, Luxord excelled at mathematics; he especially liked learning about probability and showed an amazing adeptness at the complicated games of chance that many of the crew members played during their free time. Saix found planetary satellites fascinating, especially moons, he wanted to know how they were formed, investigated the gravitational pull that kept them in orbit and studied how terra-forming could be used to colonise moons. Lexaeus also showed interest in terra-forming, but he focussed on seismic movement, the way different kinds of rocks were formed and where different ores were likely to be mined. Larxene, currently the only girl among the children, and Xaldin showed a great interest in weather patterns, they watched as many vids as they could that showed storms on different colonised and explored planets. Larxene rapidly learnt how to forecast weather by mapping cloud masses and measuring the force of wind in relation to the temperature of the planet. Xaldin studied where wind originated and how it could be used to generate energy. Marluxia spent a lot of his free time in the hydroponics section of the ship. He learnt about how plants reacted to different soil types and spent a great deal of time talking to the plants, the ones he tended grew faster and bigger than all the others. Vexen eagerly awaited the time he'd be trusted enough to learn about cloning and genetic selection, Zexion similarly awaited being grown up enough to be a scientist, inventing new ways to do things in hopes of making life better for everyone.

As with all families, the ship had a trouble maker, by the name of Axel. He was the 'problem child' having managed to escape his AGS pod and find his way to the engine room when he was physically three years old. When he had been found (trying to access the warp core which glowed with fiery colours), Axel had been whisked back to his pod and administered extra nutrients and mental stimulation in the hopes of keeping him where he ought to be. The effect of this was that Axel was much taller than usual, his hair grew into long spikes and he demanded a great deal more attention than any of the other children. Axel thrived on attention, whether positive or negative. It took him only two days out of his pod, where the other ten children drew enough attention from the primary caregivers to make Axel feel left out, to figure out how to create fire from a variety of resources. When the adults removed all such resources from the boy (after he'd set fire to his bunk twice) and scolded him for endangering the whole ship, Axel managed to secrete himself away in a small storage room and later emerged with an upside down tear drop shaped blemish on each of his cheeks that refused to be removed. After that Axel was kept under close supervision. To prevent another 'problem child', the next baby born to the ship was played music in his AGS pod, calming music that was proven to aid learning. The result of this experiment was a cheerful child named Demyx. Demyx's whole world revolved around sound. He was particularly sensitive to loud noises and could hear things no one else could. Demyx, in comparison to Axel's fascination with fire, loved water. He could often be found watching vids of dolphins and reading old stories about mer-folk. When gifted with an old earth instrument called a sitar, Demyx swiftly taught himself to play it and filled the ship with music that reflected his current emotion.

**II**

There were rumours that the ship could not sustain another child, but since the couples on the ship all were content with their one child each, nothing was said to confirm the rumours. There was one couple who didn't have a child, and though they had tried many times, they had never conceived. It came as a shock when the head of hydroponics finally produced the child she'd wanted for so long, born so prematurely that it was thought he would not survive. His mother was incredibly ill and frail from the difficult birthing, but she had the strength to name her son as her husband took him away. Roxas fitted in his father's cupped hands as he carried the fragile child to the AGS pods and laid him carefully in the flower-like cocoon. Nobody thought the little scrap would survive, but as his mother recovered, he only got stronger. His father watched over his progress, playing him soothing music and carefully monitoring the rapidly diminishing resources that the AGS needed to continue working. The distraught father begged the captain to land on a planet that was likely to hold the needed resources, but they were currently flying through space devoid of planets likely to support any plant life. Roxas emerged from his AGS pod at the physical age of three; he was smaller than a typical three year old but he was the mental match of the other children on board, his brilliant blue eyes sparkling with intelligence. His parents kept him from the nursery for a month, monitoring his progress, but he needed much more mental stimulation than his two busy parents could provide, his lack of introduction to other people made him shy, and so he was allowed to join the other children in the hopes that he would flourish.

When Aerith (the woman in charge of the nursery) bought Roxas to meet his new playmates, they were sat in front of Merlin who had told them that they were going to be upholding an old earth tradition and was currently casting their roles in the Christian Nativity. Axel was in the process of flatly refusing to play Joseph to Larxene's Mary, "I wouldn't EVER marry Larxene!" he bellowed, eyebrows drawn together thunderously before tearing out of the room, brushing past Aerith and Roxas on his way. The lady smiled kindly down at the little blonde beside her as the other children turned and began muttering about the very small person.

"Don't worry about Axel, he's our little firecracker, but he's a very nice boy." She soothed the child who looked terrified. Taking the boy's hand, Aerith led Roxas across to the group. "Merlin, children, this is Roxas. Roxas, meet your classmates, Xigbar, Xemnas, Xaldin, Larxene, Luxord, Vexen, Zexion, Lexaeus, Saix, Demyx, Marluxia...and you saw Axel. This is Merlin, he and I are your teachers." She indicated each person in turn and they smiled and waved at the new kid, eyes shining in interest. No child (excepting Axel) ever left the AGS pod before they reached five months. Merlin smiled serenely at Roxas before turning to regard the group infront of him with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, since Axel doesn't want to play Joseph...Why don't you Demyx?" The boy in question pouted slightly. He'd been quite excited about being the Angel Gabriel. With a long suffering sigh he nodded, having noticed Larxene's hurt expression when Axel declared he didn't want to marry her.

"Ok, but...can I play a lullaby to the baby Jesus?" he asked, bottom lip trembling slightly. His face lit up when Merlin nodded.

"That means...Roxas, you'll play the Angel Gabriel, OK?" This was the perfect way to introduce the shy child to other people, by immersing him in the production of the play he'd hopefully come out of his shell and enjoy himself. Merlin winked encouragingly at the newest class member. All eyes turned to the little guy.

"U...um, okay." Roxas said quietly, blushing slightly at the scrutiny of others.

Soon the whole class were immersed in different activities. Marluxia, Demyx and Aerith were drawing up costume designs. Vexen, Saix, Lexaeus and Xaldin were focused on Set design. Larxene, Xemnas, Luxord and Zexion were considering lighting, any special effects and sound equipment. Xigbar, being the eldest, had taken Roxas under his wing and they were sat with Merlin discussing the script and deciding what (if any) songs should be included in the production. Under Merlin's gentle conversation and Xigbar's delight in a new friend, Roxas slowly relaxed and was soon contributing his own thoughts on how easily the children playing multiple roles would learn lines and change costume. Axel was gone for two hours. When the door to the nursery opened, no one reacted, however, Xemnas had stood to go and ask Merlin where they'd stage the production and the person standing in the doorway made the boy smile. "Father!" he said, eyes gleaming excitedly as he rushed over to the captain and stumbled to a stop before him, saluting sharply before throwing his arms around the man's waist. "Father, Merlin says I'm going to be one of the wise men!" Xemnas crowed, trembling slightly when the man patted his head. Being in charge of the ship left the captain little time to interact with his son.

"Well done Xem." The deep voice praised before slipping an arm around his son's shoulder and walking towards Merlin. A gasp filtered through the room when the figure trailing along behind the captain (led by one hand firmly on his ear) came into sight. "Merlin, I believe this is one of yours." The captain said, hiding his amusement. Axel stepped forward, head bowed. Marluxia's eyes widened as he took in his friend's appearance.

"Can you do that to mine? But pink." He asked, staring at Axel's hair in awe. Where the boy had possessed his mother's coppery coloured hair before, it could now only be described as red. The captain snorted.

"It won't come out." He said, shaking his head. "Don't forget to apologise Axel, and I expect to hear only good things in your reports."

"Yes sir." Came the meek reply from the red head.

"He's to apologise and return to his berth until lessons begin after rest day, his ration will be bought to him." The captain informed Aerith before crouching before his son and giving him a hug. "See you at dinner Xemnas, I'd like to hear about the play." He said, smiling before turning to walk out of the door. Once the captain left, everyone turned to look at Axel, who was still looking at his feet.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you Merlin. I'm sorry for disturbing the class. And Larxy, I'm sorry about what I said. I do l...lo...love you, but...you're like my sister." He said, clearly having been coached in what to say. His little shoulders scrunched up towards his ears and his cheeks nearly matched the new colour of his hair. Merlin looked down at the boy with a fond but slightly exasperated expression.

"I forgive you Axel, you'd better go to your quarters now." The boy nodded and slowly left the room.

**III**

The com link buzzed insistently and Axel's mother, rolling her eyes at her pouting son, moved and pressed the panel to let the doors slide open. Larxene was standing there, finger pressed insistently against the button that signalled a visitor. When she noticed the door had opened, she looked up, eyes gleaming. "Good morning Mrs. Tyson, Axel's meant to come back to school today. They've made prototype costumes for us!" Larxene was practically glowing as she twirled in her simple blue shift. "I'm Mary." She announced before craning in an attempt to see around the woman. "Can Axel come out now please?" Axel's mother glanced over her shoulder at her son who was crouched in the corner shaking his head.

"Of course dear, he's over there." She pointed and watched as the blonde girl stormed over and began dragging her friend towards the door. "Please tell Merlin and Aerith that I tried _everything _to remove the colour...and tried to remove his 'tattoos' again as well." Axel scowled but allowed Larxene to propel him from his home and down towards the nursery.

"Will do Mrs. T!" the girl chirped before disappearing down the corridor, talking animatedly to the silent Axel, filling him in on all the details he'd missed in the intervening three days since he's left the classroom. "And he is _so cute_!" she cooed, "He's the Angel Gabriel, I dunno if he's going to be any good, he's really shy but Aerith says that getting to know us will probably help him come out of his shell. Xigbar likes him, he says he's quiet but not all moody like Zexy. It's like he's thinking things through lots and making sure he means whatever he's going to say." Larxene glanced up at Axel who was still the tallest of the group barring Lexaeus who was certain to develop into a tall and muscular man where Axel was likely to remain tall and skinny despite the amount of food he put away at meal times. She thumped him on the arm, frowning fiercely. "Are you even _listening _Axel!" she growled. The boy looked at her with a disgruntled expression.

"What's the point in me even coming Larx? I don't have a part in the stupid play and I bet Merlin won't let me be what I wanna be anyway." The boy retreated into silence and Larxene let him, keeping one hand wrapped firmly around his arm in case he made a break for it. Even though she was a petite girl, she was able to beat all of the boys in a wrestling match, even Luxord who cheated.

The first thing Axel saw when he was dragged into the nursery was an angel. Not to be cliché, the boy was admittedly dressed in a stylised angel robe with a golden disk attached behind his head to represent a halo, but Axel had never seen anyone – not even on the vids – who looked so angelic. His breath hitched and his green eyes widened. The angel was surrounded by no less than five of the other boys and Merlin and Aerith. Axel's fists clenched in a sudden surge of jealousy as Marluxia hiked the angel's robe up slightly and held it just above knee height, talking animatedly with Aerith. Larxene, apparently oblivious to Axel's reaction, dragged the boy across the room and shoved and prodded the boys away from the diminutive angel. Coming to a halt before him, Larxene smiled widely and tugged Axel to her side. "Roxas, this is Axel. Axel, meet Roxas, he's Cloud's boy." Axel looked down at the tiny boy and felt a surge of protectiveness wash over him. And then he nearly stopped breathing as two liquid pools of ocean blue looked up and met his own strikingly green eyes. Everyone went silent as Roxas' face lit up in the first genuinely uninhibited smile they'd seen from him.

"You're the boy who shoved past me two days before rest day." Came the lilting, high pitched _angelic _voice of the tiny blonde. Axel blushed slightly and run a hand through the spikes of hair at the back of his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He grinned sheepishly. Roxas shrugged delicately and then glanced down at Marluxia.

"Axel, do you think the Angel Gabriel would wear a robe or a tunic?" the boy asked, oblivious to the stares that his longest, unprompted speech so far elicited. Not only was it the most that the boy had spoken since joining the nursery, if not since he was born, but it was also the first time he'd asked someone their opinion. Axel gazed down at him thoughtfully.

"Well..." Axel frowned. "I think, maybe a white tunic with pale...blue leggings and then a transparent over robe that floats and maybe glitters would be nice." The whole group gaped at him, causing Axel to scowl at his toes and blush darkly at their surprise. Axel had never shown interest in clothes before.

After planning for the production resumed, Merlin drew Axel to one side. "What do you think of your new class mate?" he asked, noticing that the redheaded boy's eyes frequently strayed to watch Roxas. Axel shrugged.

"He's really little. I guess the AGS pods really have run out." He offered and turned from his scrutiny of Roxas to look at the teacher. Merlin looked at Axel and indicated the boy's hair.

"Why?" he asked softly. Axel's face fell and he ran his fingers through his bright red spikes of hair. Looking up at Merlin thoughtfully, he replied honestly.

"I like red...and I really didn't want to be Joseph." Before Merlin could say anything the boy ploughed on. "You didn't even ask me who I wanted to play. Everyone else got to tell you their preference, even if you didn't agree, you let them say. Like Xiggy wanting to be one of the angels. You just told me I'd be Joseph. I don't wanna. I really wanted to be..." At this point the boy clammed up, face tingeing red again. After a few minutes of silence, Merlin prompted him to continue.

"Who did you want to play Axel?"

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Axel said sullenly. "You won't let me be a performer anyway; I'll be the curtain puller or...refreshment supervisor." The boy's voice rose in a soft wail at the last and Merlin smiled at him fondly.

"Don't be silly. If there's a part you want to play...that hasn't already be given, of course you can be a performer." He reassured the child.

"Really?" Axel asked, daring to look hopeful as Merlin nodded. "Well...is anyone going to be the donkey?" Merlin blinked a few times before answering.

"You want to play the non-speaking role of the donkey?" he asked, surprised when the boy nodded in earnest. "Well, we'd better go and talk to Aerith about making your costume then." Axel's whole face lit up and he scurried across to discuss costume design with the costume committee.

IV

It didn't take long for Axel to usurp Xigbar's place as Roxas' friend. The eldest boy would have argued his case more strongly if it were not for the intense attraction the smallest child seemed to feel towards the red headed boy, his shyness melted away when in Axel's presence. Roxas' bright blue eyes followed Axel's movements for three days before the redhead took matters into his own hands and politely but firmly nudged Xigbar out of the picture. Larxene tended to baby the tiny child, making him even more eager to be taken under such a possessive personality's wing. Axel shared quite happily...but if he saw something as _his_, there was no arguing the case, he _shared _but that was all, he was not shy about reclaiming his possessions whenever he wanted. And Axel proudly declared before the whole ship at meal time that Roxas was his new best friend. So there. He'd then promptly ruffled the blushing blonde's hair and proceeded to fight amongst the children for a matching set of red crockery. Axel liked red things best. Roxas was momentarily overwhelmed but, seeing Axel eyeing his own plate of mashed potato and beans with sausages, the blonde boy smiled shyly and began to eat. It was his favourite meal after all, and Axel was one of those children with a bottomless pit for a stomach who was there in a flash the second someone said "I'm...", for they never got the chance to finish that sentence with 'full.' Axel's plate was swiftly cleared of his spicy chicken enchiladas all traces of sauce licked clean and he proceeded to assist the other children in finishing their meals, divesting Larxene of her last tiny square cut sandwich, Roxas of a sausage and some baked bean sauce, Xemnas of three carrot sticks and nearly lost his hand to Saix as he tried to divest the boy of his fries. Roxas watched all this with a tiny smile and only grumbled slightly as his 'best friend' stole from his plate. Xigbar leant over to the smallest child whilst Axel tried to cajole Saix into sharing his fries, "Meal time is always like this with Axel, you get used to it. He's quite capable of sneaking food off our plates without us noticing, but he thinks it's more fun if there's a chance we'll fight back." Roxas hummed thoughtfully and watched Axel vanish a handful of fries from Saix's plate, seemingly without moving. The blonde boy's mouth popped open in shock as Xigbar grinned. "See what I mean?" he said before clearing his place at the table and returning to the nursery.

Axel was delighted with his costume. The engineers had allowed him to be a part of designing and even creating his costume. Everything the boy suggested was taken into consideration and either put into the costume or otherwise an explaination was provided as to why that wouldn't work and generally a similar option was subsituted. He and Roxas had spent a great deal of time in the workshop, Roxas too small to help much but Axel liked to hear the blonde's creative criticism and missed the boy's presence when he was elsewhere. Axel spent a great deal of time forming the robotic body and rear legs of his donkey costume, figuring out nearly without aid how to co-ordinate the back legs with his own and forming the body to be able to support Larxene comfortably. He was taught in greater detail about programming computers and was even shown how to build a computer of his own. When rehearsals started, Axel spent more time alone with the engineers, this time creating angel wings for Roxas, unbeknownst to all involved with the performance. Since the rehearsals focussed on learning lines at first, Axel found that he was not needed and had swiftly become bored. A bored Axel was a grouchy and mischievous creature, so before long he was encouraged to go and learn something. The men working alongside the red haired boy watched with growing awe as he manipulated the lightweight metal to form the frame of the wings. Axel expertly applied the tools at his disposal to create a beautiful set of angel wings. They gleamed silver under the lighting and all who saw them admired them. However, Axel was not finished. When everyone left for their evening meal, Axel managed to go unseen and remained at his task. When his father appeared, dreading the damage his son may have caused without having been supervised, he was greeted by a tired but pleased boy holding onto his creation. The wings were glowing with a warm white light. The boy had managed to create the impression of feathers and had covered the frame with a soft white material. The light source was invisible and, as Axel demonstrated, could be turned on and off with a mental command programmed to be recognised into the tiny computer sheltered within the metal frame. The wings also moved, but Axel only showed off this ability briefly, indicating the tiny suction stuck device attached behind his right ear. "You see, the computer needs to learn _Roxas'_ mental voice. If I imprint myself on it too much, it won't work properly for him. Just like my donkey costume won't work as well for anyone other than me. It's learnt my mind and I don't even have to consciously think about how I want it to move now." With that said, they covered the wings and Axel's costume with an old tarpaulin and returned to their quarters where Axel was given something to eat before he collapsed into his berth and slept for a full ten hours.

Roxas was the one to collect Axel for rehearsals the next day. He timidly rapped his knuckles against the sliding door, unable to reach the buzzer to signal a visitor. When the door opened, Axel's father nearly squashed the diminutive child but paused at the excited sounding squeak. Huge blue eyes looked up and up and _up _until they met with hazel green eyes and a mop of hair that demonstrated that Axel's spikes were not purely caused by the AGS pod. "M...m...mmissteer Axel's Dad?" Roxas trembled then squeaked again as the tall man knelt before the boy.

"You're the angel in the play right?" He asked, his voice warm and rumbling. "Cloud's boy?" Roxas nodded mutely and found himself gently guided into the family quarters by a warm hand. "Axel's mother is trying to wake him up. His berth is through the red door." Both males smiled at the mention of Axel's favourite colour. "Perhaps you could help wake him. I must be off, good luck with your rehearsal. It's a pleasure to meet you Roxas." The man didn't give the small blonde boy a chance to reciprocate the words, instead he strode off to take care of his duties for the day. Roxas watched the man's retreating back for a while before approaching the red door. Without thinking to knock, he entered and blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted him. A woman with long coppery red hair was furiously shaking a blanket bound figure in the bed. She heard the door and turned to say something to whom she believed to be her husband. Her lips parted in surprise at the sight of an adorable little blonde boy with wide blue eyes. Roxas tentatively waved his hand at Axel's mother and smiled in response to her grin and returned wave. He scampered across the room and leapt onto the bed, earning no response from the cocooned figure.

"I'll get him up." He chirped innocently and began tugging at the blankets which refused to budge. After a thoughtful few seconds, Roxas began to tickle Axel who snorted irritably and rolled over, almost tipping his best friend from the bed. Roxas grinned, recognising a challenge. Much to the red haired woman's surprise and amusement, the little boy stood on her son's mattress and crossly planted his hands on his hips. "Axel!" the smallest crew member boomed in a squeaky voice. "Get out of bed this instant young man!" With that, Roxas threw himself atop the body under the blankets and started pummelling it feebly with his tiny fists. Aiden, Axel's mother, blinked in shock and reached out a cautious hand to snatch Roxas away, Axel tended to be violent when he was awoken. To her amazement, the sound of her son's laughter began to permeate the small berth and soon Roxas was cradled in the redhead's lap, pouting up at the amused green eyes. "C'mon, we're going to be late!" Roxas scolded and before long he and his best friend were taking leave of a smiling Aiden and scuttling to the nursery as swiftly as possible.

V

It took weeks before costumes were even considered in passing, although each child wore a representation of their character during rehearsals. When Aerith even thought to question the children on the condition of their costumes, it was Axel's costume that caused most concern, much to the boy's disgust. "I don't need you to do it, I've finished it. I have ears and a tail, I just need you to paint my face brown." Axel sighed, disgruntled by the lack of faith in his abilities. Each time Aerith tried to say that Axel couldn't possibly crawl around on his hands and knees for the whole play, let alone carry Larxene on his back for a whole song, the boy glowered at her and changed the subject. Finally the woman decided to leave a very flushed and angry looking Axel alone and turned to Roxas, who had come over at the request of Xemnas to try to calm his best friend down. Everyone had noticed the red haired pyro was soothed by the blonde's presence.

"I'm sorry Roxas, but we haven't managed to decide upon what your wings should look like." She said, pleased to be speaking to a calmer child, Roxas' nose wrinkled as Axel's face turned from a glower to a grin.

"I don't think I really need wings. The halo will suffice to represent the character's angelic nature." Roxas said slowly, not noticing Axel's pout. The redhead tapped Aerith on the shoulder.

"I know what we could use for Roxas' wings...May I be excused to go and get them?" he asked, almost bouncing in excitement. The woman blinked at the boy's sudden switch in temper. He usually sulked for hours before begrudgingly returning to his usual amiable nature. As she nodded Axel turned and bounded out of the room with a wide smile on his face. Roxas' nose wrinkled with similar confusion and he shrugged at the curious glance his teacher spared him. Axel was not even gone for five minutes when he returned, carefully carrying the wings. The nursery went silent at the sight of the sweeping wings in the boy's hands and Axel blushed proudly as he handed them to Roxas. "I made them for you after I finished my costume." He explained briefly before helping the shocked boy place the wings on his back. "They've got a little computer in them so they move...here." Axel gently fitted the tiny communication device behind his friend's ear and informed him of the mental command for turning on the light and moving the wings. Soon Roxas had an audience of interested and, in some cases, envious onlookers. The blonde actually looked like an angel. His rehearsal costume was a plain white shift and his halo was a simple golden disc attached with no visible means behind his head. Axel's eyes gleamed as he looked over his best friend and felt pleased by the success of his costume designing. Everyone congratulated or praised him, although Marluxia looked a little peeved that he had not thought of such a prop himself. Roxas merely hugged the taller boy around his skinny waist and murmured a soft "Thank you."

The play was to be staged in the largest holo-deck. This would allow easy manipulation of set to represent location and could, with a little more effort, be used to create actual 'physical' dwellings for the inns and the barn. The audience would be able to see within the buildings but the actors would appear to be entering a solid manifestation rather than pretending to go into shelter. The children had full dress rehearsals once a day for the three days leading up to their performance. Either Marluxia or Aerith carefully painted Axel's face to resemble a brown donkey. The first time the cast saw the redhead in his costume, the holo-deck had gone silent. The slender boy's hair formed a magnificent mane with two long brown ears gracefully adorning his head. The brown of his face blended perfectly with the bodysuit he wore to resemble donkey hair and as he fully entered the room, a collective gasp resounded throughout followed by a smattering of mutters. Axel proudly strutted before his friends and teachers, imitating a donkey trot almost flawlessly with his costume body and rear legs flowing flawlessly behind him. Roxas gaped at his friend and stepped forward, grinning as Axel came to a halt before him, twitched an ear and stretched his neck out before huffing into the blonde's spiky hair. "A...Axel!" the smallest of the children stammered in absolute amazement, reaching out to caress the ear and marvelling at the fact it felt soft and warm. Roxas had helped in the making of the costume and was still amazed. "You look GREAT!" he screeched suddenly, causing everyone but Axel, who simply grinned, to jump. The donkey twitched an ear happily and swished his tail before shuffling around to present his back to the boy.

"Wanna ride?" he offered, excited by the idea of parading around the room like a proud stallion with his very best friend perched on his back. Roxas' eyes widened and he beckoned energetically at Lexeaus to place him on the donkey's back. Aerith spoke up hesitantly.

"Is it safe Axel?" but the redhead just snorted and took off around the room in answer, Roxas squealing in delight on his back and hugging him around the neck. The little boy had his wings firmly attached to his back and, smiling with a sudden joyous expression, focussed on making them fan open spectacularly behind him. The room cooed in jealousy as Demyx especially wished that he had a special costume. Larxene pouted up at the dirty blonde boy and was rewarded by a one armed hug and a smile.

"We got the baby." He whispered to her, half to reassure himself. The blonde girl nodded and went to coo down at the remarkably lifelike doll resting in the manger which reached up with pudgy hands and caught a tress of blonde hair dangling above it, earning a warm smile from the girl. The holo-deck was being manned by Xigbar who, after being informed that he wouldn't make a very convincing angel, had refused all other roles offered to him and requested being in charge of set changes. It was also his job to ensure Larxene showed the progression of Mary's pregnancy. He was actually thrilled by his task in the production, enjoying the opportunity to learn new skills and avoiding having to sing.

The performance went spectacularly. For the first time since the ship had left its place of origin it was left to run itself. The whole crew piled into the holo-deck and were treated to a fantastic display by the enthusiastic performers. Xigbar carefully created the illusion of passing days with lighting and vast distances travelled with the backdrops. Saix played a fantastic Herod and doubled as one of the angelic chorus. The Captain swelled with pride as Xemnas carried the gold to gift to the infant king, accompanied by Zexion and Marluxia. Demyx played a very caring Joseph, causing many of the female crew to sigh wistfully at his deference and adoration towards Larxene's glowing Mary. He got his wish and played a lullaby to the baby Jesus and sang a bit of solo before Roxas joined in with a heavenly harmony and finally the whole cast joined for the final chorus. There were many wet eyes in the audience. But it was quite clear that everyone was most taken by Axel's performance. The boy was immediately recognisable by his shock of red hair, but he behaved just like the miniature beast of burden he portrayed, his ears flicked periodically at voices or in irritation, his tail warding off flies and he carried Larxene carefully throughout the long journey to Bethlehem. The hologram provided the shepherds (Lexaeus, Vexen and Xaldin) with a flock of sheep and when they were not needed in their roles, most of the boys doubled as the heavenly host with only plain white robes and golden halos to represent their angelic status. Roxas truly looked like an angel, his mother burst into tears when she saw him (much to his humiliation) and the tiny boy delivered his lines in a clear, ringing voice plainly having come into his own after his previous shyness. The children were given a standing ovation as they bowed before the crew and were converged upon with smiles, congratulatory pats and high praises. In all, it was a good night.

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A.N - Thanks for reading my drivle! I'd really like to know your thoughts on it. Tell me which bits were rubbish, which part you liked best...anything I should expand on...I really need your help!

Dreamy xxx


	2. Like giving a fish a bath

**A.N**** - **I want to warn any readers that I couldn't resist a bit of yaoi, and although I sincerely doubt that this will ever be...I believe the word is 'lemony', there may, in future chapters be some kisses between boys, SO if you don't like it - don't read.

Thank you to **lifeslover** for being my very first reviewer EVER! You gave me the inspiration to write this chapter, so I hope you like it! eeek. Any feedback is appreciated. Since I'm much too shy to share this with friends or family, I need you guys to point out any rough patches or stupid mistakes!

This chapter's a tiny bit shorter than the last one, but that's because I'm thinking the teenage years will be two chapters long. Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer**** - Characters property of KingdomHearts **which ... unfortunately does not belong to me! T.T

**Warning -** The next chapter is going to be HUGE! lol. Well, huge by my standards. I've written the opening and the end (don't ask) and it's already nearly as long as chapter 1! Hope you guys don't mind irregular chapter lengths!

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**Starship Oblivion (the teenage years)**

**I**

_Star date...uh, doesn't matter really does it?_

_I mean, no one's going to read this...not even I'M going to read this. But I really needed a way to let out some of what I've been feeling recently. Otherwise I may do something I regret...or explode. Take your pick. I'm physically a 17 year old human male, tall and lanky, bright green eyes, stupid spiky red hair (and I mean RED, not ginger or strawberry blonde...__fire red__) and I suppose it makes sense for me to start thinking about things like sex...right? I mean, even if I am actually only 12 in actual years of life...I'm not really 12 at all. I'm smarter than my parents were at my age and its hormones and stuff, which I've definitely become acquainted with over the past few years, that are having this affect on my brain...and certain body parts._

_I really should just get this off my chest now. That's why I'm here, holed up in my berth when I should be sleeping ready for my day tomorrow. We're learning about the warp core, I have never been so excited about school in my life. That makes me sound really geeky...I'm not, I've just always wanted to learn about the warp core, how it works, how it's maintained and so on and so forth. But, I digress. You see, school's one of the main reasons that my life is a misery these days. Not entirely, I mean...I guess you could say (whoever __**you**__ are) that it's my fault. I mean...what self respecting guy falls head over heels in love? Lust? I don't know! With their best friend? It's stupid. And it __**hurts**__ every goddamned day because I see HIM all day every day. And we have since we were kids!_

_Yeah, that's my deep dark confession. I "_have the hots"_ (old earth sayings make me laugh) for my best friend. One small, blond haired, blue eyed angel by the name of Roxas. At first I thought it was just...you know, something everyone feels for their best friend. I mean, we're practically brothers we know so much about each other. But Xaldy and Lux don't hug as much as me and Rox do. And the closest to our relationship that I've observed is Larx and Marly! And that...kinda makes sense. Ignoring the fact that Marly nagged me into permanently dying his hair pink and then grew it out so it's all fluffy and long like a girl's. And ignoring the fact that these 'hormones' I mentioned earlier have turned Larxene from a sweet natured, friendly girl into a shrill, nagging, bossy...just plain scary monster of a 'young lady' as she calls it...It makes sense right? Boys like girls...they fall in love, get married and...if we'd found some planet to restock our AGS supplies, have babies._

_So where does that leave me? Cos the last __I knew was...Roxas was most definitely NOT a girl._

Axel let out a low groan and ground his teeth together. If he didn't turn his light off soon, the computer would inform his parents and the last thing he wanted was for them to find him writing his confession. So he buried it in a box, locked said box and hid it under his bunk. With a sigh he attached the key to the chain around his neck, removing one of the red rings interspersed with silver spikes so that the key lay nestled between the two of them. With another soft sigh the lanky teenager folded himself up under his blanket and was asleep within seconds. It seemed that he'd been asleep for a couple of minutes when an exuberant youth bounded into his berth and began jumping up and down on his bunk, making it groan alarmingly. Well used to such a wake-up call, Axel merely tugged the covers higher over his head and stayed put. After Roxas tired of bouncing he crawled up so he was bridged over Axel's body and ripped the blanket from his best friend's face. "Good morning sunshine!" the blond boy chimed, blue eyes sparkling in a sickeningly cheerful manner. Axel remained very still, his pupils dilated in the dark of the room, his breathing coming in short gasps. Roxas peered quizzically down at the redhead. "A...are you ok Axel?" he asked, forehead furrowing at the light blush dusting the older teen's cheeks. Axel didn't respond, causing Roxas to lift his own hair from his forehead and press his head to Axel's, checking to see if he had a temperature. Axel's breath hitched and, finally regaining his senses, nudged Roxas away with his hands. " 'M fine Rox." He grated, highly aware of an uncomfortable sensation still hidden by his blanket, almost certain his condition had been caused by the blond boy during his dreams and only aggravated by the suggestive positioning he'd placed them in. Roxas looked concerned as Axel let out a pained sound, but before he could question his friend, Axel flashed him a smile. "I'll be up in a bit, just need to get ready and stuff, I'll see you in the mess hall in ...fifteen minutes?" Roxas' responding smile dazzled the half awake redhead and his chirp of 'See ya' was barely registered before Axel found himself alone again. After taking his time in the sonic shower, Axel threw on some comfortable clothes and scraped his hair into a ponytail. Better be safe than getting his long spikes trapped in something in the engine rooms. The redhead was adverse to the idea of having someone mutilate his hair to 'save' him. The tall teenager stretched and yawned before exiting his berth and waving at his mother on his way out of the door. If he was lucky, breakfast would be bearable and then Roxas would be too occupied by the warp core to ask his friend about his bizarre behaviour that morning. Seeing how his day was going so far, Axel didn't have much hope.

**II**

Everyone noticed how distracted Axel was at breakfast. At first it was put down to his excitement about finally being able to get close to the warp core. For his entire lifespan, since having escaped the AGS pod, Axel had been banned even from the _corridor_ leading to the room that contained the warp core. For some bizarre reason, the adults had seemed to think Axel would damage the warp core or even the ship. So, every time the child had drifted closer to the forbidden section of the ship, he'd been steered away by any crew member available at the time. However, as breakfast reached its conclusion, most of the children had decided something was wrong with their redheaded friend. This was mainly due to the fact that, although he'd polished off his own breakfast, he had not once tried to divest anyone else of a portion of their own. This never happened. Roxas and Larxene looked faintly ill due to the extra food they'd consumed, so accustomed they were to having it snatched away. When the young blond asked his friend if there was anything wrong, the redhead roused himself from his contemplation to smile at the general direction of his best friend and say in a falsely cheerful voice, "Just tired, got it memorised?" Roxas frowned, not fooled by Axel's attempt at normalcy, but lucky for the brooder, Merlin came to round them up and lead them to the warp core. As the group reached the corridor previously blocked to Axel, the lanky teenager perked up a bit, eyes regaining their usual shine, sparkling with interest. As they got closer and closer to the forbidden door, Axel regained a bounce to his step and soon Roxas found it necessary to grip his friend's arm to restrain him from sprinting ahead and diving through the door that held behind it the warp core. No one could understand Axel's change of behaviour, nor could they quite grasp the magic that the warp core held for him. All the redhead knew is that the colours and the warmth it emitted had made him feel calm when he was small and scared and lost.

Roxas chuckled to himself, watching Axel's rapt attention to the male crew member who was informing them about how the engines worked, how the warp core worked, what the ship used for fuel, how the emergency life support system recognised it was needed and much more. By the time they were actually allowed to go and _see_ the warp core, all but Axel were half asleep and ready to go to dinner. Demyx was bemoaning the fact that he hadn't been allowed to leave to grab some lunch, so Zexion sneakily passed him some dehydrated rations which the mullet haired blonde contentedly munched on after rewarding the slate haired boy with a gigantic smile and a squishy hug. Whilst the vast majority of the group went to ogle at the warp core and see the control panels described to them earlier, Axel hung back to question some of the engineers, Xigbar paused to flirt outrageously with a small blonde female engineer and Roxas hung around, waiting for his friend. He somehow managed to fall asleep, leaning against an unoccupied wall with his eyes half open. He startled himself awake about five minutes later to see Axel watching him with a peculiar expression. Before it really registered, it was gone – replaced with the redhead's signature crooked grin. "Why hello sleeping beauty, wanna go see the warp core with me then, or shall I carry you home and tuck you into bed?" Axel was back to his old self and Roxas thumped him hard on the arm before storming off towards the warm orange glow emitted by the warp core. Grinning, Axel caught himself thinking about how hot Roxas was when he was 'angry'. With a stifled moan of disgust, he followed the blond and distracted himself from the warm lighting's effect on the glistening strands of Roxas' hair by gazing into the depths of the warp core.

The group had left for dinner and bed. The next day was a rest day meaning the teenagers tried to get to bed at an early time, to enhance their lay-ins before getting up for a special brunch and then a day filled with leisurely pursuits. Roxas bored of looking at the fiery coloured core and was feeling uncomfortable with the distance Axel had forced between them. "Hey, can we go to dinner? I'm stttaaaarrrviiinnnngg!" Roxas whined, contorting his face into his cutest puppy dog pout that he knew Axel couldn't resist. To his utter shock the redhead barely glanced his way before shaking his head.

"Nah, you go on. I'd like to stay here for a bit longer." Axel responded. He felt completely hypnotised by the swirling colours within the tube before him. It was like one of those earth inventions...'lava lamps', whatever those were. Roxas' face registered surprise and concern but he murmured something and left Axel to his musings. The tormented redhead sat in an out of the way corner and continued thinking about his troubles, well his trouble, ultimately a boy named Roxas. He couldn't figure out how he could remain friends with the little blond when he was constantly thinking about how cute he was or how much he liked it when Roxas smiled his way or laughed at one of his jokes. To legitimise his continued presence in the room, Axel was writing down notes – something he never did. After a while he opened up his personal files on the computer and chose to write some of what he was feeling down.

'_He smiles at me,_

_And it makes me melt,_

_But I can't let him see..._'

With a frown Axel closed the document down, deleting it forever. So it appeared he was no poet, and writing some girly drivel didn't help the boy with his issues. Boys didn't like boys, it didn't work that way. So what was wrong with him? Axel ran a hand through his hair in the way he did when he was nervous or embarrassed. What was he going to do?

**III**

"Why is it I always find you somewhere you're not meant to be?" Came a warm, amused voice. Axel leaned back to look at his father. The man was often busy, but he had been there for his son whenever he'd needed him. Deciding that he may need some advice on his dilemma, Axel shot Drew a small smile.

"Cos I'm a bad son?" he teased and then sighed deeply, knowing his dad would pick up on his unusual behaviour. And he didn't let him down.

"What's troubling you son?" Drew asked, taking a seat beside Axel. He wasn't going to tell the boy yet that it had been Roxas who'd informed him of Axel's gloominess and indicated the likely location of the missing boy.

"Well...I think...I think..." Axel blushed slightly and lowered his head to avoid eye contact. "Don't laugh, but I think there might be something wrong with me...I mean, maybe my hormones are messed up because of the AGS pod...because I keep thinking about...uhh..." The redhead's face lit up in a blush as brilliant as his hair and he trailed off. To his bewilderment, Drew let out a loud guffaw and ruffled his son's spiky hair.

"So you're dealing with your first crush?" he smiled, "There's nothing wrong with you!" Axel looked at his father with wide eyes. "I don't know what those two are teaching you kids...every healthy teenage boy has those kinds of thoughts!" Axel frowned, not quite willing to believe his father. If everyone felt the way he did, why hadn't they said anything?

"R...really?" he stuttered, watching Drew's hazel eyes for any trace of insincerity.

"Of course! I've noticed Marluxia's getting cosy with Larxene, but she's a nice looking young girl and it's perfectly natural for you to be having...feelings about her! It's too bad that she's the only girl your age, but it's nothing to be troubled or embarrassed about Axel." Drew smiled at his son to be greeted by a horrified expression.

"No! I...don't love Larxene! I love..." Axel choked on his words and hid his face in his hands, utterly humiliated by what he'd been about to say. Drew frowned, trying to think of the younger women in his generation that Axel would have spent enough time around to form any kind of attachment to. 'Love' didn't exactly indicate a crush, especially when combined with Axel's anguish in the matter,

"Axel? Who...what's wrong son, you can tell me." The man felt stunned, Axel's shoulders were shaking as he tried to suppress sobs, the boy never cried. Slipping an arm around the boy's shoulders, Drew pulled his son against his side and sat quietly for a handful of minutes. Before too long, a soft voice came from Axel, almost too quiet to hear and thick with tears.

"I can't stop thinking about...them, when I see 'em, it makes me happy and I think about things that I've never thought about before. And I don't know what to do, because I'm pretty sure it's not right for me to feel this way about them. I don't want to feel this way anymore dad! I want things to be how they were before, I can't be around them without thinking about...how I want to kiss them and, I'm worried about how he'd react..." Axel's face drained of colour at that slip and he tried to draw away from his father. Drew held him still for a bit, while he processed what was going on in his son's life. He couldn't say it surprised him exactly, if he was right in guessing who 'he' was. Roxas and Axel spent so much time together and were really close. Aiden was frequently to be heard cooing about how cute a couple the two boys were, and though Drew wasn't sure about how the crew as a whole would react to a gay relationship on board, he did know that the majority of his peers wouldn't be at all bothered. It made a kind of sense, considering the male to female ratio on board.

"I'm guessing that 'he' is Roxas?" He asked eventually and raised an eyebrow at Axel's forlorn nod. The poor boy was shaking, as if scared of being beaten or yelled at. Instead, Drew affectionately rubbed his knuckles briefly against his son's skull and smiled down at the boy's wide eyed shock. "There's nothing wrong with you boy. Stop worrying so much."

"But, I thought that...boys were meant to love girls. So we could have babies and stuff...I don't get how it works with two boys." Axel blushed slightly at the way he'd worded the question. What teenage boy wants to ask his father how sex works at all, let alone between two guys? Drew covered his face with one hand briefly, also feeling embarrassment in the subject matter.

"Uh, sometimes it just works out that way. It happens, people on Earth, like the ancient Greeks used to think the male body was the true form of beauty and practiced male love. I...can't tell you how it works...you're...ah, not old enough." Drew wrinkled his nose, hoping Axel would take this as it was and not question further. "Not everyone is likely to think it's right, when we left Earth the population was divided in opinion towards same sex relationships. But, I suppose your first move will be to find out how Roxas feels about you. If he doesn't like you as more than a friend, you're going to have to decide whether you want to deal with it, or otherwise you'll have to break off your friendship." Axel winced at the idea and followed his father out to eat dinner before spending a long time that evening thinking about what he'd learnt.

**IV**

Axel _wanted_ to tell Roxas how he felt, to get it out in the open and deal with the consequences. Perhaps it would turn out that Roxas felt similarly, or wanted to wait a few years, rather than be disgusted by Axel's revelation. He'd never been one to hide from his problems. A gregarious extrovert since as long as he could remember, it killed Axel a little inside to bottle up his feelings for the blond. But he couldn't bring himself to ruin their friendship for something as stupid as raging hormones. He'd tried to fall for someone else, examining all of the younger crew members, noting their most appealing features; the way she walked, the way that girl's hair shined in the light, the way that they were confident or passionate. After failing with finding someone amongst the women, Axel reluctantly altered his perception and examined the men too. No one caught his eye and before long he found himself finding similarities to Roxas in too many people; the shade of her hair, that person was shy...soon Axel stopped people watching and reverted to trying to squash his feelings. Rationalising that he'd rather be friends with the blond, that romantic feelings would likely ruin what they had together, make things less natural, more strained. But, Axel knew that his own parents were the very best of friends and had been since they were sixteen. What the boy didn't realise was his behaviour was creating a rift between the two best friends. When at classes, Axel no longer spent time with just Roxas; instead they worked in big groups. Where the pair had always spent their free time alone together, in the holo-decks, reading, watching vids, they now either didn't see each other or had at least one other person with them. Roxas had thought for a while that Axel wanted to be best friends with Xigbar, the amount of time the eldest of the children had spent with them, but he soon realised that Axel was quite willing for _anyone_ to join them, as long as they were not left alone. This hurt the blond boy; he tried to figure out what he could possibly have done wrong as he watched his very best friend drift away from him. Before long Roxas didn't see Axel at all between classes unless he made the effort himself to organise an activity with two or more other participants, and even then he was often told that Axel couldn't make it, that the redhead was busy or had other plans. And the few times he'd tried to track the elusive boy down, he was nowhere to be found. It was as if the redhead was ignoring the fact he existed now. Roxas felt lost and hurt that Axel would just leave him like this, with no explanation or indication of what had gone so terribly wrong between them.

Despite Roxas' worries, Axel was hyper aware of the small blond, he simply tried to hide it. When Roxas was in the same room as Axel, he was all he could think about, watching him – checking to see if he was OK, it was what Axel lived for these days, which didn't help the 'Get Over Roxas' plan. So he'd taken to secluding himself away in a place that no one other than his Dad, the Captain and the people who worked in the engine rooms would think to look for him. Since Axel had been banned from getting anywhere near the warp core, none of the children would ever expect him to be there. Axel suspected Drew of having requested that his son be allowed there of the captain. And as long as he stayed out of the way and didn't touch anything, Axel was left to his own devices. He'd found a small nook in which he could while away his free time. There was a circular section built into a metal wall that was very much like a window with no glass overlooking the warp core. It made a perfect seat for Axel and, if he folded himself up to lay propped up within the circle, he went vastly unnoticed unless someone happened to walk past him. It even had a little cubby hole within it, with no obvious purpose, in which Axel stored some books, a pad of paper and some pens and pencils. Although computers were used for practically everything these days, the ship was stocked with plenty of 'harp copy' materials to ensure that old traditions stayed alive. The boy was getting good at sketching; many drawings in the pad were of Roxas. At first the images were smiling, but as the blond boy became more and more distraught by Axel's absence, the pictures grew to reflect his sadness. Axel studied the boy's face from afar and could draw a stunning likeness of the boy from memory. He kept thinking he should stop the obsessive drawing, it wasn't helping him to deal with his determined hormones that raged for Roxas, he wanted to spend time with his friend, not widen the rift between them to keep Roxas safe. Axel worried about his self restraint around the petit blond. The distance was making him miserable, and he knew it was hurting Roxas too, which made it more and more difficult to maintain. Despite Roxas' gradual recoiling into his shy behaviour from before he was close to Axel, everyone noticed when the boy became worked up about something. He'd been quiet before, but present...paying attention to his surroundings and contributing too. After about a month of his and Axel's drifting apart, Roxas began to behaviour oddly. He went into a kind of dreamland during lessons, completely unaware of what was going on and when Merlin or Aerith called on him to answer a question, a expression of panic crossed his face or he looked as if he were about to cry. The other teens asked Axel to question his formerly best friend on his behaviour, but Axel shied away from contact with Roxas after so long without being around him. He wasn't sure that he could deal with being close to the obviously troubled blond, it would make him want to hug him, to kiss his worries away, and Axel didn't feel strong enough to resist.

**V**

After two months of Roxas withdrawing further and further into himself and Axel becoming completely absent other than lessons and when he was sleeping, the children on board _Oblivion_ decided to take matters into their own hands. Larxene and Demyx convinced Axel to join them in the small lounge that had been designated the children's 'Rec Room'. Xigbar tracked down Roxas who was watching a vid but quickly switched it off when he noticed the older boy enter. Xigbar cajoled, whined and pleaded until Roxas begrudgingly agreed to join him in the Rec Room for a while, because Xigbar was 'lonely'. Zexion was waiting to see Roxas with Xigbar before running into the Rec Room and demanding Demyx join him for something important. The exuberant blonde leapt to his feet and dashed after his slate haired friend, swiftly followed by an angry looking Larxene. "I'll be right back Axel, just going to beat Demyx up a bit then drag him back here." She winked at the redhead who simply grunted in response, before she left the room. Xigbar shoved Roxas into the room, called out something that sounded like 'You guys play nice now' before shutting the door and forcing it to lock. Axel looked up from his spot on one of the squishy beanbag chairs big enough to comfortably seat three people. When he spotted Roxas – of all people – hammering on the locked sliding door, he froze. After struggling to stay away from the boy, it had become habit. He watched him from afar and that was it. He kept his feelings for the boy locked up tight until he could examine them in solitude. Axel had come to the distressing conclusion that he simply couldn't help the way he felt, and he didn't want Roxas to think he was gross or be scared to be around him, so he had opted to not inform the boy about how he felt. It now seemed so normal to not be around the boy that his sudden proximity galvanised Axel's heart into a thundering rush, pounding in his ears and making him feel short of breath. He swallowed, trying to calm himself and even managed to slightly. But that was ruined the second Roxas turned around and startling blue eyes met emerald green. The two teenagers stared at each other for a timeless second before, to Axel's astonishment, the blonde's bottom lip quivered. Without even thinking about the possible repercussions of his actions, Axel was across the room and drawing his friend into a tight hug. And it felt _right_. Like nothing had happened these past few months, Roxas just fit back into the gap he'd left in Axel's life and the redhead found it difficult to remember all of his clever arguments that stated that this was a bad idea.

Roxas had cried for a while, held tightly in the redhead's warm embrace. He was scared that when he let go, Axel would leave him again and so he clung to the taller teen as Axel led them across to sit on the big beanbag, pulling Roxas onto his lap so he could rock the crying boy. It felt nice to be protective of his friend again, like he had when they were children and Roxas obviously felt at ease in the redhead's arms, he clung to Axel's shirt and nuzzled against his chest, dampening it with his tears. When the boy's sobs trailed into hiccups and then into sniffs, Axel ran his fingers through the soft blond spikes and murmured softly, "What's wrong Rox?" Roxas' big blue eyes turned up to look at him, ringed with puffy red flesh and accentuated by flushed cheeks. Axel couldn't help but think he looked beautiful.

"I missed you." Roxas said softly, biting his bottom lip hard to stop any more tears. Axel reached out hesitantly and used his thumb to tease the boy's bottom lip free from his punishing teeth. Roxas sighed.

"That's not all though, is it? I'm sorry Rox...I thought...it doesn't matter, I just don't want you hurting. You can talk to me, what's wrong?" Axel returned his fingers to running through Roxas' hair, marvelling at how soft it was despite its spikiness. The boy obviously found it soothing because after a few seconds he slumped against Axel's chest again and closed his eyes.

"Mum...my mum is...I'm going to be...Oh Axel! It's awful! Mum's going to have another baby!" Roxas wailed, clutching the elder boy again. Axel blinked twice, confused for a while about his friend's reaction.

"Rox...what?...oh dear." It suddenly made sense to Axel as to why Roxas was not overjoyed by his imminent sibling status. "The AGS supplies...does the captain know?" Axel asked.

"Y...yeah, he says they're always looking out for a suitable planet, we need to extend the hydroponics if possible too, but if we haven't found a life sustaining planet in...What? Ten years or so? What's the likelihood that we will in six months?" Roxas' voice broke a little in dejection. Axel soothed him with gentle fingers running circles across his back.

"It'll be ok Roxie, women always used to raise babies by themselves. And the baby will have the best big brother possible. And once it's not so tiny, maybe me and you could look after him or her so your mum can go back to work." Holding Roxas had the effect Axel had expected, he never wanted to enforce any distance between them ever again, especially since he didn't think the boy would forgive him so completely a second time. With a soft sigh, Roxas nodded, allowing himself to be comforted by his best friend and curled up even closer against Axel's warmth, eyes slipping shut as he yawned and nuzzled the smiling redhead like a kitten would its mother.

"Don't leave me." He said in a small voice, one hand gripping a handful of cloth in a deathlike hold. Axel ran a hand soothingly down Roxas' back and, when he felt sure his friend was asleep, responded by dropping a feather light kiss on top of the soft blonde spikes.

"Never again, not until you order me away."

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**A.N - Ok! so there you have it! Chapter 2! I never really expected this to have more than one chapter and now it looks like it'll be three chapters long at least! Now, I don't know if you like to see a writer beg buuut...PLEASE oh please, if you have time, PLEASE review! I won't demand a quota of reviews before continuing, but I really would appreciate knowing what you guys think about my little story. I'll love you forever and promise to reply to your reviews! Except anonymous ones, cos I don't know how to do it! Sorry.**

**Credit to the little scene with Roxas waking Axel up goes to a fabulous SoraXRiku comic strip I once found on DA. xD You inspired me, even though I can't remember your name!**

**Dreamy (hugs and loves and stuff)**

P.S - please excuse the seemingly random chapter titles, they're quotations I decided I liked the sound of.

Chapter One - '_While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about._' ~Angela Schwindt  
Chapter Two - _'Telling a teenager the facts of life is like giving a fish a bath._' ~Arnold H. Glasow


	3. Like a really long, bad cold

**A.N - **This chapter cheerfully refused to be written. Well, not quite. The middle refused to be written. I managed the opening with no problems. Then I was attacked by the ending which I simply had to write and was dismayed to find it as about 2000 words long. Then the middle just...got longer and longer and I realised I couldn't feasibly fit everything into one chapter. So I chopped it in half and hopefully will find the next chapter less of a hassle to write.

I was kind of hoping that more people would managed to spare a little time to review. I really rely on you guys to tell me if I'm doing OK. I am very flattered by the amount of favouriting and Alerts going on, but I would really appreciate it if you could leave me a little message to bolster my spirit and my poor muse! XD

**Disclaimer -** Although I awoke a few nights ago to Axel and Marluxia arguing about something in my bedroom (I sleepwalk and was slightly disturbed by the fact there were two men in my room whilst I was in my Winnie the Pooh PJs - I scuttled out swiftly lol, what a waste, next time I'll be sure to take advantage!) I sadly do not own anything in KH or FF.

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**Starship Oblivion (the teenage years part 2)**

**I**

_Everything in my life has become more difficult, more painful...but I'm happier now than I have been for...I don't know, a year maybe? I decided not to tell Roku (code name for a certain special someone) how I feel about him. He needs me to be his friend right now, and I've found managed to stick to that role. I still think about him in ways that friends shouldn't think about each other, but as long as I keep those thoughts to myself, I'm not hurting Roku, and that means a lot to me. I'm not saying it's easy...especially since Roku is spending more time with me than ever before. It makes him panicky when he's around his mother, watching her change slowly but surely as the months pass. He can't bear to be around her alone, so I've been learning more about pregnant women than I ever thought I'd learn. Especially since the one I love is...well...a guy._

_You wouldn't believe the crazy mood swings Roku's mum goes through...and the weird food cravings. She wanted something called 'marmite' the other day. No one but she knew what it was, but luckily the computer could synthesise it. It's this strange old earth food made from yeast that absolutely stinks in large quantities. Although, Roku and I tried it on toast, he spat it out and made a huge fuss – dancing around and swiping at his tongue before guzzling down huge amounts of water – I found I quite liked it spread thinly. Before long Roku's mother and I discovered the best ways to eat it, in a sandwich! She likes it with cheese but my favourite is with chicken! Oh, it's SO GOOD! Roku is quite grossed out by my love of the stuff, he hates it with a passion and get's this adorable expression of absolute disgust when he even _smells_ it._

_Ahh, sorry about my short tirade on the subject of marmite. I'm actually here to vent a bit about life and Roku and...life. You see, Roku doesn't want to be home by himself with his mother. And that has directly translated to either me staying with him or, as is the case more often than not, him staying with me. Not that I mind, my parents love Roku, especially since they know how I feel about him. I couldn't keep it a secret to myself and my...journal? Diary? Whatever this is. My ranting space (haha). They also know that I've chosen to keep my feelings hidden from Roku, and they've promised to keep my secret. Dad's always ruffling Roku's hair, just like he does mine when he gets the chance. Unfortunately for Roku, even though his growl is quite vicious (he hates people touching his hair but, oddly enough, puts up with it from me), he's just too adorable and cute for my dad to take him seriously. Luckily for dad, Roku likes him and he's too tall for my little blond to retaliate. Roku actually bit Dem-Dem last time he ruffled those soft blonde spikes. I laughed so much I cried._

_Hmm, where was I? Oh yes, Roku and me, sharing a room...practically every night. You can see why I am finding life a bit difficult now, right? Although the cabins for families have four berths each, Roku always wants to share MY berth. And, more specifically, MY bunk. Each berth has one bunk, a closet for clothes, its own small bathroom, a couple of shelves and storage space under the bunk. That's right; Roku's become rather clingy since his mother became pregnant. I don't know if it's because he's worried about her, or whether it's my fault for trying to distance myself from him before. You know, when my feelings made being around Roku...problematic. So we share a bunk, which really was never designed to hold two people. It's a good thing Roku's small._

_I like it more than I should. Roku always 'top and tails' with me, there's not really enough room to sleep any other way, his head by my feet and visa- versa. But more than once, I've woken up to find him snuggled against me, head nuzzled against my neck, my arms around his waist. And one time, despite the fact that I ALWAYS sleep curled up on my side, I woke up, struggling to breathe properly, and discovered that this was due to the fact Roku was curled up like a cat, asleep on my chest. I fight with myself, forcing my body to remain where it is, to not touch Roku, and there he is, cuddling up to me, as if I'm some big teddy bear. I haven't questioned him about it yet, I always wake up before him these days, probably because I'm worried that one day I'LL be the one cuddling him, and I really don't want him to find us in that kind of position. This allows me the opportunity to carefully disentangle him from me and slip off to the bathroom to make sure I'm presentable. Life is hard, but I'm glad to be spending time with Roku again. It wasn't until that day Xiggy, Dem-Dem, Zexy and Larx decided Roku and I needed to make up that I realised how miserable I'd been without him._

Axel sighed and put away his notebook in the little niche hidden in his secret spot in the engine room. He hadn't told Roxas where it was he went to every so often, but knew that if he remained any longer; the boy would come looking for him. Sliding out of the circular void in the metal wall, Axel stretched and stalked out of the engine room and into the mess hall. He spotted Roxas immediately, the boy's wide blue eyes were fixated on the door, his posture tense until he saw Axel enter. Roxas' face lit up and he waved happily at the sight of his best friend before finally returning his attention to the baked potato on his plate. Axel was amused by his friend's concern for his whereabouts and claimed his own meal of spicy chicken curry so he could slide into the seat left vacant beside Roxas. Axel loved spicy food and, taking the time to ruffle Roxas' hair – earning a glare from the younger boy – he pretty much inhaled his food, finishing way before any of his friends already at the table. Settling into old routine, Axel pilfered a fishcake from Demyx and swiped some roast potatoes from Larxene's plate. He saved Saix till last, watching the blue haired boy intently, timing his theft perfectly to grab a lamb chop from right under the snarling boy's nose and proceeded to lick it clean of gravy before eating it with obvious enjoyment. The children were well accustomed to Axel's table manners but only Saix tended to begrudge the redhead his food. Roxas had taken to just leaving a little bit of everything on his plate for his friend. He slid his plate towards Axel and was rewarded with a wide grin before the portion of jacket potato, baked beans and cheese were gulped down into Axel's seemingly never ending stomach. The tall boy let out a satisfied sound and patted his still flat tummy contentedly. Roxas went to collect his and Axel's desserts and watched incredulously as Axel actually savoured each bite of the chocolate sponge cake and avoided the ice cream as if it were the plague, offering it to Demyx instead, making the enthusiastic boy light up. Roxas leant over to murmur in Axel's ear. "Can we go spend some time with my mum tonight?" he asked, receiving a nod and then a startled glance from Axel.

"You want me to come?" he asked, frowning slightly. What happened to mother son bonding time? Roxas nodded, looking sheepish. "Why don't you want to spend time with your mum, you won't be alone, Cloud'll be there." Roxas pouted slightly and it was all Axel could do not to coo at him and give him a hug.

"It scares me to see mum's baby bump when...when there's no AGS pod working, I know that it's normal for babies to grow up in their own time, but a spaceship is no place for a toddler! When you're there with me, I don't feel so panicky." Roxas confessed, peeking up at Axel from under the strands of hair hiding his face. Axel let out a long suffering sigh and winked at his friend to show he was teasing.

"Fiiiiinnnee, come on then. Bye guys." And with a sloppy salute to his friends at the table, Axel grasped Roxas' hand and dragged him from the room.

**II**

When they'd entered Roxas' home, they were faced with the uncomfortable sight of Lily and Cloud curled up on the soft chair designed to fit two people. Cloud was resting his head atop Lily's distended stomach and murmuring soft nothings to his unborn child. Roxas bodily flinched and backed out of the room as swiftly as possible, running to Axel's cabin as fast as he could. Axel stood frozen for a second before shooting an apologetic glance at the startled couple before sprinting after his friend. His longer legs allowed him to catch Roxas just outside the door to his family cabin and he reached out to draw Roxas into a tight embrace. The little blonde boy, having held off tears on the way, began to sob inconsolably at the redhead's sympathy and comfort. Axel kept up a stream of soft, calming words as he led the smaller boy into the cabin and through to Axel's berth. His parents watched the boys with wide eyes but Axel shook his head at them, not wanting them to interfere. Aiden's eyes registered relief and Axel realised she'd assumed Roxas was crying because he'd told him about how he felt. With a soft smile, Axel nodded when Drew mouthed 'Is everything OK?' before entering his berth and pulling Roxas into his lap as soon as he sat on his bunk. The blond was still crying, curled up into an upright foetal position in Axel's arms as the older boy rocked him slowly, running fingers comfortingly through his friend's hair and hushing him softly. Roxas hadn't cried like this since he'd first told Axel about his mother's pregnancy.

"They...they pre...preteeeennnd that ev-everything's fi...fiiiiine!" Roxas wailed in between huge wracking sobs. Axel felt helpless, but he continued his soothing motions.

"Shhh, I know. I know. Hush now, shhh." Axel knew that Roxas feared both for the baby and his mother who had nearly died when birthing Roxas. The younger boy tried to bottle his emotions up, but the panic built up day by day until it burst out of him. Axel could only hold the boy until he calmed down. "C'mon Rox, let's go to sleep." He said softly once the boy's body no longer trembled with his sobs, tears coming softly now. Roxas nodded and allowed Axel to gently remove his outer clothing and slip a long night shirt over his head. He didn't move as Axel scooped him into his arms and laid him on the bunk and brushed his hair back from his tear stained face. But when the redhead had prepared himself for bed, Roxas reached out and grabbed a handful of his pyjama bottoms. Axel slept shirtless, usually he slept in nothing but his underwear but had made a change since he and Roxas had been sleeping together. He turned his eyes to meet Roxas' questioningly.

"Will...will you sleep with me tonight?" the blond whispered, much to Axel's confusion.

"Rox, we always sleep together when you stay over." He said, forehead wrinkled as he tried to avoid the obvious interpretation of Roxas' words. The boy DID NOT want to have sex with him, and Axel's body should be used to that idea by now.

"No...I meant..." a tear ran down Roxas' nose as he trembled slightly. Axel swallowed the thick feeling in his throat away as Roxas continued in an even quieter voice than before. "Will you hold me?" he asked shyly, avoiding Axel's brilliant green eyes which flashed in understanding.

"You don't even need to ask Rox." Axel said, grabbing his pillow and moving it to the other end of the bunk before sliding under the blanket and opening his arms to Roxas. The blond let out a shuddering breath and wormed his way into the warm redhead's embrace, his face buried against Axel's chest and sighed as the older boy drew him closer with an arm around his waist.

"Thanks Axel." Roxas murmured sleepily as his earlier tears sapped the last of his energy and pulled him into warm darkness, knowing he was safe in Axel's arms.

They were woken so abruptly that Axel fell out of his bunk and it was then impossible for Roxas to understand what the captain's voice was saying over the sulphurous curses being emitted from the disgruntled redhead's mouth. "Axel, be quiet." Roxas tried to no effect. After repeating himself a few times and waving his arms in a futile attempt to gain the other boy's attention, Roxas lunged across the bunk and flattened Axel to the ground, one hand covering the boy's mouth. Roxas glared down at the shocked green eyes as he listened to the very end of the announcement.

"...Mess hall, thank you." The blond rolled his eyes and slowly removed his hand from Axel's mouth.

"We're going to have to go to see if we were included in that summons now!" he scolded, clambering off of Axel and hurrying to use the bathroom so that Axel had time to before they left. They'd gotten bathroom sharing down to an art now; Roxas went first so he could hurry Axel along. When they arrived at the mess hall, they were shocked to that, barring a skeleton crew to keep the ship going, everyone had gathered there. Aerith was standing beside the door and sighed in relief when she spotted her wayward pupils. She ushered them close and they caught the end of the captain's announcement.

"It appears the planet is life sustaining and shows signs of sentient inhabitants. We will receive volunteers for the primary landing crew, confirm your names with the lieutenant then return to your posts. Thank you." The captain left, smiling at Roxas and Axel as he passed. Roxas was gaping like a vapid fish and Axel, glancing at his friend, disappeared to add their names to the list. When he returned, the blond was looking more aware of his surroundings and was greeted by a fuming redhead.

"He laughed at me when I said that we...uh, I wanted to be in the landing crew!" Axel spat and his eyes flashed angrily as Aerith giggled slightly.

"Why would the crew want children to go with them Axel? They'd be unable to do their job sufficiently because they'd feel responsible for you." Axel's mouth opened to deliver a scathing retort that would very likely reduce the poor woman to tears when Roxas, noticing the warning signs, reached up and grabbed a handful of his friend's red spiky hair. The tall boy yelped and contorted his body to lean towards the pain, whimpering as Roxas dragged him from the room.

"Roxy! Roxy let go! Ow o wow ow owwww. Please Roxy, pleaseletgoofmyhair!" The previously raging teenager was reduced to a whining toddler, practically doubled over and moving at a hurried, sideways shuffle, desperate to alleviate the pain on his tender scalp. Roxas didn't speak until they'd returned to the redhead's cabin and then released his friend, blue eyes registering shock at the news about the planet but currently overwhelmed by disapproval of Axel's behaviour. The redhead managed to look like a scolded puppy. "Uh, I guess I went a little over board?" he said in a meek voice. Roxas' hands came to rest on his hips in a manner Axel had grown to dread.

"You looked about ready to bite someone's head off. I heard you yelling at the LIEUTENANT! You're dumb if you even thought for a second they'd let one of us go down first. You should have asked before putting my name down. And, you can't shout at Aerith, it's wrong and you know it'd make her cry!" Axel winced as each of his misconducts was listed in a ringing voice.

"Sorry Roxy." He said, pouting slightly. The blond glared at him for a few more seconds before slumping down into one of the comfy chairs dotted around the living area, asking the computer to show the approaching planet on the vid screen. It was a fairly small planet, seemed to have two moons and was mainly a turquoise blue colour. Axel plonked down beside his friend and they watched in interest as the planet grew larger as they got closer to it.

**III**

The landing crew was gone for too long. Lessons had been cancelled the day the crew of three men and two women was due to rejoin the ship. Communications had proven sporadic and unreliable, scrambled by the atmosphere of the planet. The landing crew had managed to transmit that the air was breathable and that the planet had a weather pattern. Besides that, there had been a garbled message about an absent community, deserted towns and something to do with nuts. No one really understood what had been said, but none of the landing crew had sounded unhappy or frightened, and their life signatures were showing clearly on the radar. However, two hours after the designated rendezvous, the majority of the crew was getting anxious, especially since no contact had been attempted. Axel and Roxas were curled up on Axel's cabin floor, munching their way through an obscenely large bowl of popcorn drowned in butter and liberally doused in sugar. Roxas had not been back to his home other than to collect some clothes. He couldn't stand the sight of his parents and Axel felt certain that if the boy was pushed, he'd go crazy. Drew and Aiden had accepted their new resident calmly, sensibly not mentioning anything about Roxas' parents in front of the boy, however they had gone to visit Cloud and Lily, reassuring the concerned couple that they would be keeping a close watch over Roxas. The two boys were sprawled out on the floor when Xigbar slouched into the room, pouting terribly, with an eye patch over his right eye and a painful looking cut on his left cheek, from his jaw line to just under his eye. For a second he looked around in confusion before spotting the best friends dozing on the floor. With a slight smirk, he flipped himself over the back of a chair so he landed on it upside down; head dangling inched from Roxas' nose. The eldest boy, practically an adult now, shifted slightly, causing his long dark ponytail to lightly tickle Roxas' face. The boy scrunched up his face and huffed in his sleep, causing Xigbar to grin wickedly. "Little dude?" He murmured softly at first, gathering no reaction from the blonde. "Duuuuuuuuuude, wakey wakey!" he cooed into Roxas' ear. The boy squirmed, pouting adorably in his sleep. "WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUGGER!" Xigbar yelled into the boy's ear. Both Roxas and Axel shot up as if stung, arms wrapping around each other in fright. Their attention was soon drawn to Xigbar who was laughing so hard that he slid off the chair to slam head first into the ground, still laughing manically.

"Xigbar! What's your problem!" Axel growled viciously whilst trying to disentangle Roxas from him.

"What happened to your face?" Roxas asked, horrified by the slice taken out of Xigbar's face. Axel snorted at the question.

"What do you mean? He's always looked like that!" Roxas thumped his friend's arm and scrambled away from him to help Xigbar sit up. The golden eyed teen looked embarrassed.

"Had a fight with Xemnas." He said sullenly. "Fights dirty, he does, slammed a metal pole into my face. He had one in each hand, first got my eye, second...had some acid or summat on it...this ain't no cut." He indicated the scar on his cheek. Under closer inspection it was a jagged pink scar, slightly pitted into the older boy's skin. "He didn't realise until I started yelling, rushed me to infirmary, Doc managed to stop it eating into my flesh, but what's done is done, I'll always have the scar." Xigbar touched light fingertips to it and shrugged. "I bet it'll score me some ladies!" he crowed mostly to himself then eyed his friends with a guilty expression. "Since me and Mansex were fighting, Merlin and Aerith have been told to start class up again to keep us occupied." Roxas looked at Xigbar in confusion.

"Mansex?" he asked warily. Xigbar's face lit up, he grinned from ear to ear.

"Mansex, Sexman, Xemnas. I figured it out the other day! Xemnas' name is an anagram of Mansex!" The scarred boy began cackling again, Axel grinned, shaking his head as he and Roxas each took one of Xigbar's arms and dragged him from the room.

"Now we know why they were fighting." He said, aiming their steps to the nursery.

Once all of the children had been rounded up from their various leisurely pursuits and occupied with lessons, the majority of the adults convened once more in the mess hall. The landing crew had returned, delayed because they'd landed in a bog and had then had to manoeuvre their shuttle 'Oath keeper' onto dry land before rejoining the ship. The head of the landing crew had been outlining their initial findings on the new planet and was now bringing his report to a close, having saved the most interesting feature of the planet till the very end. "The weird thing is, although we didn't _see_ anyone, the planet is definitely inhabited by sentient beings. We came across cultivated land, domesticated animals, signs of land having been cleared and what appeared to be a settlement...but in the trees." He explained. "We had the feeling we were being watched, it is my belief that we intimidated the inhabitants, but they did nothing to attempt driving us away." He concluded his report and nodded to the captain before resuming his seat. Standing up, the captain faced his crew solemnly.

"As you are all aware, Lily is with child, we need to replenish the supplies needed for the AGS pods. Marluxia, the boy who helps Lily in the hydroponics is enthusiastic to expand the 'ponics to supplement our diets and help keep oxygen levels up. However, I am concerned about threatening the indigenous beings enough for them to take action. We cannot use our technology to learn their language if we cannot interact with them. Does anyone have any suggestions?" Members of the crew suggested sending a larger number of members dirt side to collect what was needed, and that they took weapons. Safety in numbers. Others argued that the number of beings on the planet would far outweigh the number of explorers, and that they didn't know the nature of the beings yet. It was a big risk to go down looking threatening. Some people suggested going down and setting up a small camp to wait for contact from the local beings. The original landing crew argued that if they hadn't seen the beings, it was unlikely that they'd find someone less intimidating just because they sat still. Lily suggested that she went dirt side and attempt to make contact. An obviously pregnant woman wouldn't be seen as threatening. This idea was immediately shot down by just about everyone. Another woman offered the idea that someone small and naturally quiet went to make contact, taking one other with them for protection. Body language would hopefully indicate to the indigenous species that they were not harmful. The lieutenant spoke up.

"Those boys, Roxas and Axel offered their names to the original landing crew. Roxas has always been a calm lad, gentle and patient. And I know that Axel's good at combat, plus he'd protect Roxas with his life. The little blond is capable of keeping the redhead under control, as well as fighting himself. I propose we see if they could make contact. They're not exactly kids anymore." The crew began muttering.

"Yeah, Roxas is small, but Axel's taller than most of the crew, surely he'd appear threatening to the 'locals'." Piped up one small woman, who thought that she could get the locals to welcome her much better than two brats could.

"Axel is tall, but he's obviously not reached maturity, he's got all the coltish grace and long limbs of an adolescent. I think that it would be plain to most intelligent beings that the lads pose less threat than an adult." Lily offered. Although she didn't want her son put at risk, she did believe that Axel would look after the smaller boy as he had been doing for months now. And she was getting close to her full term of pregnancy. If Roxas and Axel could make contact with the locals, it would take all of her worries away. She didn't think the beings inhabiting the planet would attack the boys; they had likely hidden from the crew out of fear but had not offered any violence.

**IV**

Roxas and Axel were surprised to have the Captain remove them from class, but absolutely dumbfounded by the idea that he was entrusting such a mission to them. Axel was physically shaking with sheer excitement before the man had even finished explaining to the boys why they were being asked to do this, and what it would entail. Roxas placed a steadying hand on Axel's leg, hoping to keep the elder boy for rocketing out of his seat in pure joy. Taking on the more mature role, Roxas asked the Captain about provisions, protocol, how long they had before they would be expected back, emergency signals etc. Axel started off oblivious to his best friend's questions, but slowly calmed down, realising the solemn nature of their task. They would be in foreign territory, alone, faced with unknown beings of indeterminate intelligence and nature. Unbeknownst to the two, now serious faced, teenagers, the little meeting with the captain was his way of checking their suitability for the mission. He'd immediately been impressed with Roxas' reaction, the boy had seemed proud that they were being trusted but also apprehensive. Most of all, the captain admired the boy's immediate questioning, he was not thinking of this as a reward, but as a job. He was the youngest of all the children, but the captain wondered if any of them would have reacted as maturely as Roxas was, including his own son. Axel, on the other hand, had given the captain cause to doubt his suitability. He not only reacted in an unsuitable manner, but was obviously not paying attention to the briefing. As he answered Roxas' questions, the captain was considering the other children, wondering if one of them would make a better choice than Axel. However, before he'd chosen someone else to interview, Axel seemed to snap out of his dream world and began asking questions of his own, proving to the captain that he was not as airheaded as he seemed. Having described the whole procedure to the boys, the Captain explained that they would be going through a period of extensive training to prepare them for contact with gravity at least twice as strong as the ship used. In addition to this the boys would learn first aid and survival skills. This would replace their usual lessons and during this time the shuttle would be prepared for another trip and packed with containers for samples of plant life as well as the gear the boys would need to survive in varying conditions. The boys were sent off to meet with personal trainers to begin their conditioning.

That night, Roxas was unusually quiet. At dinner, all of their friends had prodded them with questions and exclaimed about how lucky they were to be going dirt side! Only Xigbar had ever experienced planet life, he was rather disgruntled that he was being excluded from the mission, sulking a bit when Demyx (of all people) pointed out that Xigbar had recently shown he was not very level headed. With this statement the bubbly water loving boy had ran gentle fingers over Xigbar's scar before plopping a light kiss onto his scarred cheek. "I still love you Xiggy!" he cooed before settling back in his seat and snuggling against Zexion. Xigbar had gone slightly pink and eyed Zexion with a guilty expression before immersing himself in his meal. Axel had smilingly chattered with the others, but was aware of Roxas becoming quieter by the hour. By the time the boys had prepared for, and slipped into bed, Roxas looked as if he was terrified. Glancing at the boy in concern, Axel crawled to his side and pulled him close.

"What's wrong buddy?" he asked, running his thumb soothingly up and down Roxas' upper arm. The boy turned his startling blue eyes up and sighed.

"I don't know if I'll like it dirt side." He confessed. Axel's eyebrows shot up.

"What do you mean? It's...what we're built for. I've been waiting my whole life to feel a breeze, to eat fresh foods that you've picked from plants growing in real soil, to build a _proper_ campfire!" Axel went misty eyed at the idea of a campfire. "And it's a planet unspoiled by technology, it's like a paradise! Agricultural from what the landing crew saw. We'll be fine; we'll look out for each other." Axel resisted the urge to kiss Roxas' hair and simply squeezed him reassuringly.

"Ok." Roxas said softly, leaning into his friend's warmth. "Maybe it will be exciting, and...maybe we'll succeed. I bet it'll be nice and stuff." The boy yawned widely and the next thing Axel knew, the blonde boy was breathing evenly, cheek pressed against Axel's chest, long eyelashes gracing his cheeks. With a fond smile, Axel managed to wriggle under the blankets with Roxas undisturbed on his chest. He turned the lights out with a soft word and watched his friend sleeping peacefully until he too fell into slumber. They both immersed themselves in their learning, Axel surprising everyone in applying himself to something other than the engine room and making things. He learnt how to pitch a tent swiftly, how to treat a number of injuries within no time at all. He had to know these things to look after Roxas, and he even worked hard in conditioning himself for the increased gravitational pull. Where he'd simply been slender, he formed athletic muscles, defining his arms and stomach noticeably. Roxas took a little longer, he'd never enjoyed time in the kymnasi, but his eyes lit up when they were put through combat training, to ensure they would be able to protect themselves. Axel had done some combat training before since he'd expressed an interest, Roxas hadn't but enjoyed it immensely, it helped him to build his strength and made him more comfortable with the idea of going dirt side. He wasn't going to be some little damsel in distress, if needs be, Roxas would fight alongside Axel.

Axel piloted '_Oath keeper_', landing delicately in a large open area, softly carpeted in pale blue vegetation, small round leaves emitting a sweet citrusy scent when crushed under foot. Roxas eyed the door to the shuttle warily but followed Axel out when the older boy captured his hand and gently tugged him from the safety of the ship. They made a short journey to the nearby forest of bizarre trees to collect wood for the campfire Axel insisted that they needed. "It'll keep us warm, heat water quicker than the little stove we've got and it'll probably frighten wild animals away." The redhead insisted and was pleased that the little blond didn't put up much of an argument, despite the huge amounts of wood they collected. The forest was strange. There were various species of trees similar to ones found on Earth, some resembling oak trees but with larger, longer leaves which were a deep indigo blue. The most striking tree, however, had silvery white bark covering its trunk but instead of branches and leaves, strange tentacle-like appendages grew out, framing the tree like a weeping willow and ending in multicoloured pompoms. Both boys avoided these trees without really thinking about the reason. Having collected armfuls of firewood, the boys searched for a campsite, close to the cheerfully burbling stream but on a rise to avoid something like a flash flood. Roxas found the perfect spot, sheltered by some hills, overlooking the stream and within sight of the ship. The pair hastened to set up camp before the sun set, Axel preparing and lighting a fire, collecting water and checking it for cleanliness. Roxas set up the tent and was drawn to his friend's side when he heard Axel cooing over how great the water was. "It's perfect! Like, perfectly clean, perfect PH...and fresh and cold! It tastes so good!" The boy cheerfully stated, urging Roxas to drink some of the fresh water whilst he set about boiling some over the fire to make their supper. Roxas' eyebrows rose in surprise at the tooth aching coldness of the water as well as the flavour of it. Being used to the recycled water on board _'Oblivion_', the fresh water of this planet was a delight. Once the pair had their supper on its way to being cooked, they took the time to contact the Captain and let him know of their progress, the next day they would explore the woods, trying to find the treetop villages the original landing crew had spotted. The quality of the transmission was not ideal and was soon cut short. Roxas was tired. The conditioning had allowed him to function on the planet, but the increased weight was wearing on him. Allowing Axel to bank their fire, Roxas cleaned their dishes before returning to the tent. Axel was already curled up inside, pleased to be out of the chilly night air. They had spread out two sleeping bags but opted to lie on top of the squishy material and snuggle together under two thermal blankets and a big thick patchwork quilt that Axel's mother had been given as a child. The two teenagers swiftly drifted off to sleep, unaware that their camp was under scrutiny.

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**A.N -** Sooooo, thank you for reading, I really hope that this pig of a chapter makes sense. If you review, I will declare unto you my undying love! And a lifetime supply of your choice of cookies or cupcakes! :o

This Chapter's Title...

_'The troubles of adolescence eventually all go away - it's just like a really long, bad cold.'_ ~Dawn Ruelas

Love you guys!

_**Dreamy xxx**_


	4. Like nailing Jello to a tree

**A.N - **Hey guys! Chapter 4 is DONE! phew, much easier than 3. And hopefully the next chapter will be an epilogue and then we're done! o.o'

As promised, I've been baking for LifesLover and Wolf-Wingz who reviewed. And have also declared to them my undying love. lol. May they do with it as they will. Hope everyone has enjoyed Starship Oblivion as much as I have. :)

**Disclaimer - **I told you guys last time! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. If I did, I would be busy bringing some yaoi into a new KH game! XD

**NOTICE! **during this chapter, the _**Bold Italics**_ represent neither Roxas nor Axel's POV, I'm sure you'll figure out who it is. ;)

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**Starship Oblivion (the teenage years part 3)**

**I**

_Captain's Log –boy does that make me feel important hehe..._

_Morning of the first day on planet pompom... (So named for the trees bearing pompoms instead of leaves)_

_Well, I can't really say there's much to report as of yet. The water is clean and cold with signs of aquatic life. Other than the odd silver flash of some tiny fish, there has not been any sign of life. The flora on planet pompom is diverse and in the case of the pompom trees, kind of creepy. I'm not really sure why, but Roxas and I have avoided them. Either they're creepy or emitting some kind of signal, be it scent or telepathy, that's warning us to stay away._

_Today we plan on gathering some vegetation samples in the morning and then explore the immediate area if daylight allows._

Axel smiled down at the still sleeping Roxas. Writing his 'Captain's log' made the redhead feel very self important and authoritative as well as responsible for his 'crew'. Taking care not to jostle his sleeping friend, Axel crawled out of the tent, planning to prepare breakfast; perhaps the smell would wake Roxas up. The first task would be to collect some water and then to awaken the slumbering fire. The teen smiled up at the warm sun before filling some containers with water. Upon returning to the small campsite, Axel noticed something sat beside the fire. As soon as he spotted it, the redhead let out a loud "Awwwww. How cute!" before beginning to cook breakfast. When Roxas emerged from the tent, rubbing at his eyes sleepily, Axel handed him a bowl of his breakfast and fixed him with a wide smile. "I didn't know you could make plushies, Rox!" he said. "Thank you sooo much, he's super cute!" Turning to where he'd seen the little white thing that resembled an owl and a cat with little purple bat wings and a red pompom on its head like the trees, Axel failed to notice Roxas' bemused expression. "Oh, was it not for me?" Axel asked, feeling a little upset whilst wondering how the blonde had managed to snatch the toy away without him noticing. "I guess you made it for the baby?" he asked, turning back to face his friend. Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Axel, I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't made a plushie in my life! I fail miserably at sewing." The blonde boy eyed his friend warily, trying to figure out what could possibly be in the water that would cause madness in Axel and not Roxas. The bewildered redhead gestured to the area surrounding the fire.

"But...Roxie, it was ... small and white with a big nose and a red pompom on a little antenna thing coming from its head...and, it had little purple bat wings...I'm not crazy! I saw it!" Axel snapped the last, seeing Roxas' sceptical expression. The blonde boy held out his hands in a placating gesture and hurried to clean the breakfast utensils.

"C'mon Axel, let's get some work done eh?" he suggested, leading a grumpy Axel towards the '_Oath Keeper_' to collect some sample containers which would protect their collected plant life until they returned to '_Oblivion_'.

The two boys became an industrious team, collecting samples of vegetation and carefully preserving them in the specially designed containers before storing them on board the '_Oath Keeper_'. As they worked, Axel cheered up again and they kept up a playful banter as they progressed. Roxas had long ago learnt that the best way to keep Axel on task was to distract him from the unappealing aspects. The redhead was a typical teenager in the fact that he despised any form of work. And so Roxas made their task into a game, who could find a certain coloured plant first. Who could identify a plant with medicinal value before the other? Axel strove to be the best and increased his effort every time that Roxas offered a contest. By midday, both boys were hot and tired and hungry. They had collected enough plant life to send back to '_Oblivion_' to keep the scientists and Marluxia occupied for at least two months. Axel flopped to the ground with a groan. "I feel gross." He complained, picking at his clothes with unhappy fingers. Roxas grinned at him, silently agreeing to his companions words. He felt disturbingly sticky and hot, having grown up in the controlled atmosphere of a spaceship, both boys were accustomed to only getting hot when exercising in the kymnsasi and then immediately washing their efforts from their bodies.

"Go wash then." Roxas said, concentrating on their supplies, trying to decided what to make for their lunch. Axel's scrunched up face caught his attention.

"But we don't have a shower." Axel said, confused. How was he meant to cleanse his body without a sonic shower? Roxas gaped at the red head and snorted with amusement when he realised that he was being serious.

"Help me chop these veggies and I'll show you how to wash." He said, rolling his eyes and passing Axel a tray of various vegetables. Before his friend could react, Roxas hurried to fill a pan with water and place it over their fire after he prodded it into greater strength. Roxas set about preparing a stew, adding in some cubes of synthesised meat and the fresh vegetables from the hydroponics. He smiled and disappeared to their ship, tasking Axel with making sure the fire was safe and wouldn't go out whilst they went away for a while. He returned with two bundles of material and without a word took Axel's hand and led him down along the stream they were camped beside. Axel went an unusual pink colour at the contact and trailed along behind the little blonde like an obedient puppy. His heart thudded erratically as he tried to force the excess blood from his cheeks and also walk the uneven ground without falling over, likely squishing Roxas beneath him. They walked up a hill and Axel froze, gazing down at the large expanse of glittering water before them.

"How'd you find this?" he asked, mouth gaping slightly as he allowed his friend to tug him towards the water. Roxas glanced up at his friend with a slight smirk.

"When you landed the ship, I was at liberty to gaze at the landscape instead of the control panel." They reached the pebbled shore leading down to the water's edge and Roxas paused, laying the two bundles of cloth on the ground and pinning them down with a few larger pebbles. Axel had walked right to the water and was gazing at the tiny waves lapping the toes of his boots.

"So, what..." Axel didn't understand the purpose of visiting the lake, despite its natural beauty but he was left silently choking on his own words when something unexpected happened.

**II**

Roxas quietly stood behind Axel, divesting himself of his dirty clothing. He eyed the redhead's back with a sly smile and, without a moment's hesitation, ran past his friend utterly bereft of clothing. He whooped with laughter at the sound of Axel's question dying before it really came into existence before splashing into the water and squealing with both joy and shock at the coldness, diving in cleanly to get the initial plunge over and done with. "Bath time Axel!" he shouted back at his friend who was still gaping after Roxas, not having moved a muscle. The redhead didn't show any sign of having heard the blonde, so Roxas waded back towards the shore. As the blonde got to waist height in the water, Axel's face flushed a deep red and he swiftly looked down at his feet.

"I think I'll...come in with my clothes on...so they'll get clean too." Axel stumbled through his words, attempting to remove his boots without once looking up towards the water. Roxas frowned and continued his progress to the shore. He stopped in front of Axel, hands planted on his hips. Axel, cheeks still burning, was oblivious to all but untangling the stubborn fastenings of his boots. When he finally managed to pull them off and stand up he let out a yelp and leapt back from Roxas, struggling to fix his eyes somewhere safe. He focused his attention on Roxas' dazzling eyes and refused to let it waver.

"Don't be silly Axel; we'll wash our clothes later. Now, come and swim." Roxas scolded his friend, hiding his amusement at the elder boy's flaming cheeks and bashfulness as he slowly removed his own clothes. Axel muttered the whole time he stripped down to his birthday suit, standing in the elements with no more on than the moment he was born. Even his ears felt like they were burning with embarrassment. This was precisely the kind of situation he strove to avoid with the small blond. Roxas clasped hands with Axel and tugged him into the water, refusing to let go as the redhead recoiled.

"URGH! I don't like it! I'll stay smelly, thanks!" Axel cried, picking his feet up high to avoid the water, pulling away from the stubborn blond. Roxas shook his head and swiftly planted himself behind his friend, shoving with all his strength. Axel, holding one leg out of the water, toppled forward with a girlish scream and his abrupt entrance into the water created a wave that washed over Roxas, causing the cackling boy to splutter. Axel popped up like a cork from beneath the water's surface and Roxas stared at the boy in bewilderment. Although the weight of the water dragged down at his hair, it was still spiked as usual, just drooping slightly at the ends. The elder boy shook his head like a dog and pouted at Roxas. "It's wet." He said with a meek little voice, scowling when Roxas just laughed.

"Of course it is, it's water. And now you're in, you might as well have some fun and make sure you're clean before getting out!" Roxas smiled and paddled out to Axel, splashing his friend with a double handful of water. The redhead grinned fiendishly.

"Oh, it's on."

The pair frolicked in the icy cold water until their teeth were chattering. Roxas had bundled their clothes in a net bag and added some cleaning agent before securing it in the mouth of the stream to be rinsed clean. Then, after about ten minutes, they'd carefully pinned their clothes out flat on the sun warmed pebbles to dry. By the time the friends stumbled shivering from the lake, wrapping themselves in the bundles of cloth Roxas had brought with them, their clothes were dry and infused with the sun's warmth. Donning them quickly, the boys jogged back to their camp and slurped down warming mugs filled with the tasty stew. Soon they felt reenergised enough to go exploring, Roxas carrying a hand held device that mapped the terrain they explored and led them towards inputted data that the landing crew declared was the site of the bizarre treetop settlement. They started out chatting amicably; discussing the plants and animals they spotted, trying to figure out what the others were doing without them in class, exchanging random pleasantries. But as they entered the wooded area, the two boys slowly grew quieter and drew together unconsciously. There was a strange sense of watchfulness around them, which they both initially put down to the oppressive sense of being enclosed by the trees. However, when they happened to glance at each other, eyes meeting, they realised that perhaps there was something more to each of their apprehensive feelings. They were walking so close that they were practically holding hands, Roxas glanced at the device in his hand and looked up at his friend, voice coming in a strained whisper. "I think it's through those trees." He shivered and watched Axel nod and take one of his weapons from his back. It had been made to suit his fighting style and the armourer had seen the little spiked wheels and the key on Axel's necklace, they had inspired him. So, Axel's weapons were two wheels that he could spin swiftly, bright red with metal spikes, which would return to his hands seemingly by magic. Roxas had his own weapons, but being there to play the diplomat, he didn't draw them. That, and he was kind of embarrassed by the fact that they seemed to be inspired by the key Axel wore around his neck. The two 'keyblades' had been named after the ship and their shuttle without asking Roxas' opinion. Axel had been allowed to name his weapons 'chakrams' for some reason, but Roxas was left with a dark key with bat-like wings forming the hilt and a chain ending in a black crown trailing from the end with no apparent purpose, this was '_Oblivion_'. Contrasting with the 'dark themed' blade, '_Oath keeper_´ was all light, with angel wings for the hilt and a star charm at the ends of a rope-like chain. The actual blade resembled a spiky star, or perhaps a snowflake, making '_Oath keeper_' Roxas' favourite of the two weapons. Eyeing his tall friend nervously and earning a brief smile in return, Roxas drew in a deep breath and pushed his way through the trees. His gaze was drawn up to eye the little village nestled in the branches high overhead, little bridges spanning the gaps between trees and connecting the platforms on which little buildings sat. He heard Axel emerge behind him and was startled when the redhead let out a yelp of shock and slight...fear?

**III**

_**The two smaller no-wings were very loud and ignorant of their surroundings. Their heavy, bizarrely shaped feet were mindless of tender roots as they trampled over them, ignored fragile burrows and flattened out tracks left to lead other creatures to specific locations. The young no-wings swept aside the webs of the little huntresses, pulled seed pods from mother plants, snapped youthful branches from their path and ignored the warnings the forest gave them to leave. And yet, watching them silently, the winged one observed the taller no-wing go out of its way to step around a delicate orchid growing in a patch of moss, the sun child no-wing paused to turn a tortoise over from its trapped position – legs waving in an attempt to right itself from its shell down position and then, working together, the two no-wings carefully returned a Quetzalli chick to her nest. The pair were obviously juveniles, old enough to find a mate but not yet mature enough to know the mating rituals. Thad not taken to attacking the forest with blades as their elders had before them. They had been respectful with keeping their fire safe and slumbering peacefully, the winged one watched them quietly, they were clearly unaware of the damage they were causing their surroundings. Making a quick decision, the winged one returned to the village, awaiting the moment to greet the visitors.**_

Axel wasn't staring up at the houses in the trees, but down. Roxas raised an eyebrow and turned to follow his friend's gaze. He was greeted by the sight of an adorable plushie, sat beneath a tall tree. Roxas frowned, recalling Axel's description of the plushie he'd seen at camp and slowly he turned to look at his friend. "Axel, I'm pretty sure that is not a..." before he could finish his sentence, the 'plushie' got to its feet and blinked up at them.

"Kupo!" it announced, stretching its little arms wide. Axel hissed in surprise and eyed the creature.

"I believe we have found our sentient being." Roxas said quietly, taking a step towards the small white creature and hunkering down to its level. "Uh, hello...kupo?" he said, assuming that was the thing's name. "I am Roxas, and this is Axel." He indicated his friend who smiled uncertainly and waggled his fingers in 'Kupo's' direction. The little creature blinked up at them cutely and began making sounds that could only be interpreted as words. Roxas glanced at Axel, knowing that the more the little creature talked to them, the sooner their computer could translate the language for them.

_**The no-wings, Roxas and Axel if the winged one was correct, obviously did not understand the language, but theirs seemed simple enough. They'd named him 'Kupo'? Well, he supposed it could be worse. However, it was only polite to introduce himself properly. Indicating the sun-child no-wing and tilted his head to one side inquisitively. "Rrroxas?" he asked, struggling at first to make the correct sounds. He was rewarded by a huge smile and an enthusiastic nod. Turning to the fiery haired one he questioning said "Axel?" and was once again nodded at, this time with a slight wariness. Ignoring the red head's seeming discomfort, the creature indicated himself and eyed them. "Mog." He informed them, watching a spark of understanding light both creatures' eyes. Smiling at them, Mog let out a chirruping noise and suddenly his brethren surrounded the visitors. Stretching his arms wide Mog introduced his kind as, "Moguri!" then placed a hand on his mate's shoulder. "Moogle." He instructed before spreading his hands and repeating, "Moguri." Then pointing out a single moogle and repeating the singular name of their kind. Roxas seemed to understand. He indicated himself and the male beside him.**_

"Humans." Roxas said, watching the crowded Moguri begin dancing around them in welcome with a wide smile. Axel slowly relaxed when no threat was offered and he folded his legs to sit beside Roxas, chuckling when a number of Moguri children converged on him, tugging at his long locks of hair and chattering at him excitedly.

Roxas was clearly delighted in the fact that he and Axel had surpassed their superiors in making contact. Mog was the Moguri's ambassador of a sort. Or perhaps an oracle. He was gifted with the unique ability to understand all beings, both by learning their language in a matter of hours and by reading their body language and emotions to determine whether they meant his people any harm. He had surprised the boys the next morning by appearing before them at breakfast and blinking up at them as they smiled. Roxas waved at the moogle and got a similar gesture in return. He hadn't expected the little creature to follow his wave with words. "Good morning, Roxas, Axel. We were wondering if you would like to be shown plants with health promoting properties. I presume that is what you were doing yesterday morning before you bathed?" Roxas gaped at Mog before shaking himself enough to prevent Axel choking to death.

"M...mog! Since when? ...How did you...not even..." Roxas stuttered through his words, unable to complete a comprehensible sentence. Mog looked amused.

"I am gifted with the ability to know all beings in a way that no other is. It is an ability that is passed down through my family; one child in each generation develops the gift." Roxas shook his head stunned.

"You learnt our language fluently far faster than our computer could translate yours." Responding to Mog's curious tilt of the head, Axel passed the little computer to him.

"This computer is an artificial intelligence; it collects data of the foreign language and translates it. Then we can either sleep with a headset on, attached to the computer and learn the language overnight, or we can place a bud in our ear and it will translate what is spoken into English for us. It takes a few days with frequent data input for it to work though." Axel explained, he understood computers a bit better than Roxas did. Mog nodded his understanding after examining the small device.

"Then I will request that those accompanying you converse with you." He smiled.

"Mog, in a few days Axel and I must return to our elders briefly to report our findings and to give them the plant samples we have collected. We will likely return that day or the day after, possibly with some more people. Will that be ok?" Roxas asked. Mog looked a little nervous.

"Yes, but if your elders accompany you, I cannot guarantee that the others will come to socialise." He said, obviously wishing that only the adolescents would come to visit.

"We will try to convince the grown-ups to let us visit alone." Axel grinned, standing up and pulling Roxas to his feet. "Let's go and learn about some plants!" he said enthusiastically, much to the other two's amusement.

**IV**

Having returned to the '_Oblivion_' with no signs of harm and plenty of plant samples, helped by their data collection of the Moguri language and society, the Captain was quite content for the children to return to the planet without adult supervision. Everyone was excited and many were nervous. However, the glow of excitement surrounding Roxas and Axel calmed their peers enough to ensure that no one refused the opportunity to go dirt side. They landed the morning after Roxas and Axel had left. The two original explorers took their friends on a firewood gathering walk, allowing them the chance to become accustomed to the added gravitational pull on their bodies. Although all of them had gone through the same conditioning process as Axel and Roxas had, they hadn't started until the pair had left and therefore hadn't trained as long as the two boys had. They found the added weight a strain to begin with, but swiftly grew to ignore it other than feeling more lethargic than usual. Once they'd gathered enough wood for Axel to make dozens of fires, they began setting up tents, expanding the original camp. After this, Xaldin cooked them a hearty lunch over Axel's enlarged fire. The redhead was thrilled by the chance at trying out a different fire pattern and looked quietly prideful of his accomplishment. He also praised Xaldin's cooking as if he himself had been the sole reason for the wonderful flavour of the food. After the group had finished their meal and washed their crockery, Mog appeared as if called. He greeted each of the children by name, much to their bemusement, and paid especial attention to a very flattered Larxene. The only person the moogle did not seem at ease with was Xigbar. The eldest of the children hid his hurt feelings successfully and sat very quietly. Demyx, noticing his friend's unusual silence, scooted over to sit between him and pulled Zexion with him. The boy looked down, golden eye shining with gratitude at the little mullet-haired boy's show of companionship. Mog seemed to contemplate the group for a while and then let out a chirrup as he had done at the village when first greeting Axel and Roxas. Demyx gasped in enthrallment as the Moguri appeared, in twos and threes, to gather about the children. They seemed shy at first, but after one of the youngest Moguri tentatively approached Xigbar and eyed him solemnly before pouncing on him to bop his pompom against the delighted boy's nose, the others began interacting with the wide eyed humans. Axel and Roxas smilingly watched their old friends making new ones with the Moguri. Marluxia was soon being gifted with bunches of flowers by shy Moguri females, much to Larxene's initial disgruntlement. However, after Mog sidled over to murmur in the pink haired boy's ear, Marluxia gained an understanding of the gifts. He smilingly accepted each bunch until he had a large bouquet of pink and yellow flowers, matching the shade of his and Larxene's hair. Leaning over to the girl, Marluxia planted a soft kiss to her cheek and handed her the bouquet. She blushed prettily and accepted it after giving the boy a big hug and a shy kiss to the lips. Mog grinned as the gaggle of females led the new couple to one of the pompom trees and encouraged the humans under the disturbing branches which parted to create a doorway for them. When they later emerged smiling and holding hands, Mog looked a little crestfallen but smiling at them in welcome before leaving with the rest of his people for the night.

The children had slowly drifted off to bed in small groups, huddling together for warmth in their tents. Being dirt side was exciting and new, but the nights were much colder than they were accustomed to. They all had special sleeping bags that would keep out the cold and preserve their body heat, and with two or three people in each small, water and wind proof tent, it wouldn't take long for the night's cold bite to be driven off. Sleeping close together, or in the same sleeping bag in Larxene and Marluxia's case, wearing their simple but durable suits that kept the wearer at a comfortable temperate even in the most extreme conditions, would allow all the children to sleep comfortably. Only four remained around the campfire after Xigbar had been dragged off by Xaldin, everyone fed up of his cooing over the Moguri children who'd chosen him as their favourite human. Demyx had informed the eldest boy that it was because he was a 'big teddy bear', much to everyone's amusement. Axel and Roxas sat, leaning contentedly against each other, gazing into the flames. Opposite them, Demyx looked like he was asleep, curled up in a ball at Zexion's feet, the blue haired teen was sat on a log, reading a book by the firelight. Roxas appeared to be drifting ever closer to sleep, warmed both by the fire, the pleasure of a successful day of introducing the humans to the Moguri and by Axel's body. The redhead, however, wasn't sleepy. He was revelling in the new experiences of being on a planet, despite having been there for a week now. The sounds drifting on the cool night air lulled both the blond boys, but Axel listened eagerly, trying to identify what he was hearing. The air was full of the scent of wood smoke and Axel breathed it into his lungs with relish. The flames danced and he felt an overwhelming happiness. He was warm and content with Roxas snuggled up beside him. The redhead sighed in pure bliss and rested his cheek against Roxas' hair, smiling as he closed his eyes. Everyone was sleeping, the night quietened as the stars came out to shine benevolently down on the planet. The two moons bathed the landscape in soft, muted light. Not silvery, but a pale pink. Axel blinked once at the moons, the smaller of the two was the palest shade of lilac and the larger one was a soft pink, as if it were blushing. Snorting softly to himself at the simile, Axel breathed in deeply once more. This time the smell of wood smoke was mixed with Roxas' sweet vanilla scent. Axel nuzzled against his friend, not yet willing to move them to where they'd set up their tent. He sat in quiet contemplation as the fire popped sleepily. They'd found a planet that was not only capable of supplying them with nutrients for the AGS pods, new plants for the hydroponics and offered a period of rest for the crew, but also introduced them to a new race of beings.

**V**

The Moguri, despite the fact neither they nor the humans understood the other's language, chattered quite contentedly to their visitors. Demyx had burst into laughter as two Moguri had eyed Axel's hair whilst he lounged around on the grass and conversed amongst themselves like a pair of giggly girls before shuffling over to tug at the long spikes curiously, even going as far as to lick the redhead's tresses to see if the colour was permanent. And while the little computers all the children were wearing worked on translating the language of the Moguri, Axel got to spend a lot of time with Roxas, learning and exploring. It was an adventure he hoped would only bring them closer. Maybe, if things went well with the birth of Roxas' baby sibling and if Axel could work up the courage, maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to confess his feelings to the small, brave, absolutely wonderful and adorable blond currently breathing softly beside him. He didn't think Roxas would be disgusted by him anymore. Surely, even if he didn't feel the same way, he'd accept it as a part of his best friend, part of his character and would remain by his side. After all, being able to stay with the one you love is one of the privileges of friendship. Roxas wasn't the kind of person to push Axel away once he knew how he really felt. And there was always the chance that he felt the same way, or love would grow in him slowly over the years, once he knew that Axel loved him. The redhead would wait happily, he didn't want to push his feelings onto Roxas, Axel would be able to deal with being a friend, he'd been doing it for so long now. Axel smiled at the thought, wondering how he would tell him. Perhaps they could climb onto one of the soft looking, blue hued hills and watch the sun set, and just when the last of its rays dwindled below the horizon, Axel would softly stroke a stray lock of hair from Roxas' face, lean close to his ear and confess what had been tormenting for so long now. "I love you, Roxas." He breathed into the night air, still trapped in the vision he'd created for himself. A part of him was aware of the sleeping boy stiffening slightly, his breathing faltering from the steady rhythm of sleep. But he was watching his dream Roxas' face tinge lightly pink, visible only for the glow of warm colours dashed along the fluffy clouds. Before long the stars would come out with the moons and Roxas' bright blue eyes would turn to Axel slowly. The redhead would feel embarrassed and shy, but he wouldn't be able to look away, trapped by the oceanic orbs holding his own emerald eyes captive. Roxas' soft lips would part slightly and the words Axel had so longed to hear would finally fall unhesitant and full of warmth.

"Finally!" exclaimed Roxas, who no longer looked sleepy in the slightest. Axel was startled from his daydreams to find Roxas staring at him with wide blue eyes, but not in the way he'd envisioned. It took the redhead a handful of seconds to realise the blond had not been asleep, and that Axel had spoken aloud his confession, rather than imagining it as he'd thought. His own eyes widened in shock as Roxas' single word drifted through his mind until it made sense.

"Wha...Wait, you _knew_?" he questioned the blond who just nodded. A couple of important questions filtered through Axel's brain so he chose one at random. "How?"

"Demyx told me a while back, I don't think he meant to though." Roxas smiled, remembering how Demyx had been ranting about something and accidently let slip that Axel had been 'mooning' over Roxas for months. It had taken the startled boy a while to believe Demyx's words, but had eventually realised the truth.

"How...I never told him!" Axel wailed as quietly as one could wail, so as not to wake Demyx or attract Zexion's attention. "What made him think that I..." The redhead trailed off, deeply embarrassed by the situation. There went his romantic confession. Roxas snorted in amusement.

"Demyx likes guys too; he said it's easy to tell once you know what to look for." He informed his spluttering friend. "Demyx loves Zexion." Axel's eyes widened even further, darting a panicked glance at the blue haired boy opposite them, who still had his nose buried in his book.

"Shhhh, he might not want him to know!" Axel scolded his friend. From across the fire there came an amused chortle.

"I already know Axel." Zexion informed the younger teen in a dry tone of voice. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, everyone else knows." After a while of Axel opening and closing his mouth at the amused bookworm, Zexion decided to wake Demyx. "Time to go to bed, Dem-Dem." He said softly, watching his boyfriend stretch like a cat, yawning sleepily before standing and pulling the one who awakened him to his feet.

"Okay sexy Zexy." The mullet haired blond said coyly, leaning down to kiss the suddenly embarrassed boy softly on the lips. Axel made a sound halfway between someone being strangled and a nervous giggle, causing Demyx to pull reluctantly from Zexion's lips and turn towards the pair across from him. "Oh, sorry guys!" He chirped at them, giving Roxas a pointed looked before shuffling off to his tent, one hand entwining slender fingers firmly around Zexion's. Axel gaped after them, completely oblivious to Roxas smirking at his reaction. It was no secret that those two were together. They'd never kissed in front of their friends, Zexion was a bit too shy for such public displays of affection, but Demyx was slowly desensitizing him to PDA's. At first he'd made the point of touching him in front of their friends, brushing his hair back from his face or caressing his cheek fondly. Before long he was doing the same around the crew members and later introduced hugging into the process. Zexion was now quite comfortable to have Demyx hanging off of him and tackling him in his trademark enthusiastic hugs. It was quite amusing that Axel hadn't picked up on it, although Demyx tended to tackle hug everyone and had been known to bestow affection kisses to peoples' cheeks every so often.

When Axel didn't move from his flabbergasted position, despite Roxas waving a hand before his eyes, the blond boy sighed. This love confession wasn't moving on nearly as swiftly as he'd hoped it would. Shifting slightly, Roxas leant towards Axel, placing one hand to cup his chin and move his head to face Roxas. Axel still didn't react and with a slight shake of his head, Roxas closed the gap between them and softly pressed his lips against Axel's. It was a chaste kiss, lasting only a few seconds but the reaction in Axel was phenomenal. The teenager went completely still; his breathing became shallow and increased rapidly. When Roxas pulled back he smiled at the shell shocked expression on the redhead's face, placed a swifter kiss on his lips once more and moved to breathe in his ear, "I love you too, Axel." At this, Axel roused from his shocked state to stare at Roxas, hesitant, surprised, overwhelmingly happy and a bit scared.

"Why didn't you say anything before? Why didn't you let me know if you already knew how I felt?" He asked, not quite ready to believe the blond boy's words after so long believing he'd have to wait for his feelings to be returned in kind. Roxas laughed, shaking his head.

"Axel, I insisted we spend every waking moment together." He said.

"I thought you were scared about being by yourself around your mum." Axel replied, staring at Roxas with wary eyes, stifling his ecstatic response to Roxas' earlier words.

"I made sure we slept together nearly every night too." Roxas gently reminded his friend.

"I...I...that doesn't mean..." Axel had been slightly confused by this, but didn't want to admit it.

"Axel! How many times did I cuddle up to you?" Roxas asked in an exasperated tone. The other boy merely gaped at him, still not willing to let himself believe. "We swam together...NAKED! For goodness sake! I slept on _top_ of you Axel!" Roxas exclaimed, worried now that Axel didn't want him. Responding more to Roxas' tone than his words, Axel chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I did think that was a little bit weird." He admitted sheepishly, awkwardly rubbing his palm against the back of his head. Roxas looked up at him with his big blue eyes and suddenly Axel forgot his worries. Roxas, _Roxas_ had said he loved him. Roxas loved _him_...Axel! The redhead let out a little choked sound and cupped Roxas' cheek with a tender expression. "I love you, Roxas." He whispered.

"And I love you." Roxas replied, smiling at the wondering expression that lit Axel's face. Very slowly, as if still not quite sure he wasn't dreaming, Axel placed his lips against Roxas'. The blond boy wound his arms around Axel's neck and pressed closer to him. The redhead let out a moan of pleasure and pulled Roxas into his lap, not wanting any space between them as he wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist and hesitantly ran his tongue along the younger boy's bottom lip. It wasn't the cliché romantic setting he'd envisioned for his declaration of love, it was much better.

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**A.N -** Soooo, hopefully you enjoyed this! I felt a bit awkward with bits of it, but I think it turned out ok in the end. Let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :) See you in a week or two...I hope!

Chapter name - "_Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-o to a tree_" ~ Anon


	5. Epilogue

**A.N - **Well guys, this is the end! I am both happy and sad to see this fic wrapped up nice and snug. I thought it was a bit cruel to end the story last chapter, so I threw this together to let you know how Roxas and Axel's life progresses. I hope it's ok, I think it may seem a bit rushed at the end. Let me know what you thing and I may try to edit it a bit.

**Final Disclaimer - **For this fic, anyways! I do not own the vast majority of these characters. They are not mine, no matter how much I might wish it.

**Warnings - **uh, well, I spose you could say mpreg, but it's not really. There's a lotta fluff, lots of babies (awwww) and ... I dunno, probably mistakes and rushed endings galore!

**

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Epilogue – Axel's Memoirs**

**I – **_**Perpetual Wonder**_

A tiny daughter gives parents a life in a climate of perpetual wonder.  
~ Pierre Doucet

_Roxas' mum gave birth to his baby sister a while after the Moguri accepted the adults in their communications. The baby had a shock of jet black hair when she was born and her eyes were a brilliant blue to rival her brother's. The look on Roxas' face when he first held his baby sibling very nearly made me cry. And I don't cry. He put off visiting Lily and her baby for a week; I think he was hesitant because of how long he'd been avoiding his family. In the end he caved in because of the cajoling I put forward. I remember how cute Roxas was as a three year old and was incredibly eager to meet what I knew would be his adorable little sister. In the end we made the trip back to '_Oblivion_' with another assortment of plants that the Moguri were revealing to us. They'd even gifted us with a prized seed called a _Kupo-nut_. This was given to us with great reverence and Roxas hoped his mother and Marluxia would be able to cultivate the plant so that we could return some to the Moguri when we went back to the planet._

_Back to Roxas meeting his baby sister. We arrived and went to the hydroponics to drop off the first load of carefully packed and insulated plants. Then I, taking Roxas' hand (You have no idea how good it was to be able to make such small fond gestures and know they were returned in kind), led my boyfriend (never going to get bored of that) to my cabin. We paused there long enough to clean off and change clothes. Using the sonic shower after so long washing with water was an odd feeling! And then we informed my parents of our new relationship status. Mum practically squeezed the air out of Roxas and dad very nearly shook his arm off. Then I was tackled by the pair of them, mum sobbing against my shoulder. We sure shuffled out swiftly after that._

_I could tell that Roxas was nervous. His fingers tightened around mine, he shuffled closer to my warmth and attempted to slow our steps. I let him and we paused outside his family cabin. He was shaking slightly as I drew him into my embrace, running my fingers through his hair and whispering to him until he calmed. Whilst he was still nestled in my arms, I reached out and buzzed the intercom, letting Cloud and Lily know we were there. Cloud opened the door, his electric eyes taking in his sons' position in my arms, raised an eyebrow and then simply nodded at me, showing he recognised our new closeness. I felt slightly uncomfortable but hid it and ushered Roxas over to his father. Cloud went from seeming very calm and almost aloof to incredible gentleness and warmth. He enveloped Roxas in a bear hug and talked softly to him, coaxing small answers from the petite blond before leading the pair of us into the cabin._

_The whole main room was filled with pink and white ribbons, balloons and stuffed animals. And settled in a rocking chair, moving back and forth in soothing motion was Lily, practically glowing with motherly warmth. Roxas halted momentarily before shuffling over at him mother's beckoning. He kissed her cheek and peered down at the snuffling babe in Lily's arms. The girl was very doll like, pale skin and delicate features. Her hair was a surprising colour compared to her family's blonde locks. Soon Lily and Roxas had swapped position, my boyfriend sat primly in the rocking chair, holding his sister in a manner that made it seem like she were delicate spun glass. And that was when the magic happened. The tiny child was snuffling softly in her sleep, but being passed from hand to hand woke her up. Her giant blue eyes blinked up at her brother, who held his breath waiting for tears. But instead she shifted, nestling closer to the boy, and lips parting in contended sleep. The boy's posture changed with this minute movement and his expression altered from discomfort to wonder. I smiled at Lily who was cuddled against her husband. She returned the smile and I softly stepped closer to peek down at Roxas' sleeping sister. She was a beauty and I glanced up at Lily. "Is the AGS pod working now?" I asked, quite anxious. I received a nod._

"_Naminé is going to the AGS pod tomorrow, we wanted to let Roxas hold her first though. Thank you boys so much for all your hard work!" Before Roxas or I could comment on the baby's name, Lily had thrown herself at me and was clinging to my top, crying in what I assumed was gratitude for collecting the supplies needed to power the AGS pod. I awkwardly patted the little woman's back and was thankful to be rescued by Roxas who asked if I wanted to hold Naminé before we left. I nodded and ended up with a cute little bundle in my arms. She blinked at me sleepily but soon resumed her soft breathing as I rocked her, undoubtedly completely goo-goo eyed over her. I was very glad that I had convinced Roxas to come to '_Oblivion_' for a little while._

**II – **_**All Fun and Games**_

Love is all fun and games until someone loses an eye or gets pregnant. ~Jim Cole

_The Moguri were delighted in the five hastily germinated _Kupo-nuts_ that Roxas and I bought back with us to the planet. Mog took them with a tearful expression and the whole community bustled off to supposedly plant them. Roxas and I curled up at our campsite which now had a collection of hand carved chairs and tables and bowls and such-like arranged around the tent and campfire. In the very fluffy stage of our early relationship, Roxas and I went for long strolls through the woods and collected various pieces of wood that caught our eyes, pebbles from the various streams attracted Roxas' attention more often than not and we accumulated a nice collection. It was one of the Moguri who taught me how to whittle; I first made a heart out of a pink hued wood, intricately patterned with holes through it. I was rather proud of my creation and Roxas seemed pleased when I presented him with it. Since then I'd learnt to make lots of different things, ranging from the useful to the decorative. Roxas was learning to cook and also (though you must promise to not tease him about it) how to sew, embroider, weave and knit. He was in the process of making Naminé a really beautiful patchwork quilt made from material he's woven and dyed himself when Mog reappeared a few hours after we'd seen him disappear with those _kupo-nuts_._

_Mog asked us to follow him, to take with us some supplies since we could be gone for the rest of the day. Looking at each other we both grabbed a small bag each and filled them with various items we would need and others that may come in useful. I finished packing first and quickly nipped off to let Xigbar and a few of the other crew members currently visiting the Moguri know that we were going somewhere and may not return until the next day. With that we set off, Roxas and I walking hand in hand behind Mog who refused to tell us where we were going. When we'd traversed a great deal more of the woods, going deeper than we'd ever been before, Mog halted us in front of one of the pom-pom trees. For the first time since arriving on the planet, the tree didn't repel me. I felt drawn to in, bizarrely, and when I looked down at the little blond beside me it appeared that he felt the same way. I looked down at Mog quizzically. It seemed he had something to tell us._

"_These trees are very special to the Moguri. They play a part in our mating rituals, our birthing and our deaths. It is customary that a new couple spend a night beneath one such tree, it will show you if your relationship will last." The little moogle seemed to have more to say, but instead ushered us beneath the branched (which still resembled the antennae and pompoms the Moguri had sprouting from their foreheads) his parting words were, "Do not light a fire tonight, the tree will protect you. Don't eat the fruit of the tree and I will come to collect you in the morning. Good night." With that, we were left alone beneath the previously creepy branches of the weird tree. Sitting beneath the sheltering branches, on the first patchwork blanket Roxas had made, we began to talk. We chattered about all manner of things whilst working on different projects by the light that filtered through to us. Roxas was knitting some little booties for his baby sister and I was carving her a moogle with a star shaped pompom._

_We discussed Naminé for a while before talk turned to how both our parents had reacted to the news that we were now a couple. My parents had been thrilled and it was quite clear to us that our relationship had been no surprise to Roxas' parents. Before we'd left, Cloud had taken me aside and quizzed me on my intentions towards his son, threatened me if I ever hurt the boy and then softened, saying he was pleased that I'd finally worked up the courage to tell the boy how I felt. I'd decided to leave out the story of our 'confession', it still irked me that it had ended up being an accidental declaration of love, but I'm not complaining. I'm just glad that it happened. As the light began to fade we munched on a cold meal of random fruits and bread with cold slices of meat and cheese. Content and full we spread out some more blankets and our sleeping bags before curling up together and resuming talking. I won't go into the gooey details, because guys aren't meant to go on talking about how happy they are and how much they love their partner. Ahem. And I believe I would spontaneously combust if I put into words what ... activities transpired as the night wore on._

_So, I'll just outline the odd events which transpired as Roxas and I curled together for warmth, too lazy to scramble into our clothes in the pitch black darkness. As we whispered a few more mushy words, a handful of "I love you's" and so forth, something small, fluffy and hard fell from above us and hit Roxas' forehead. We searched around for it, using one of those emergency snap light glow sticks. We found the offending article which happened to be one of the pompom fruits from the tree. It was blue and green, the colours spiralling out from the centre. Shrugging at each other, remember Mog's words to 'not eat the fruit' we placed the thing in my bag and went to sleep. Roxas woke me in the morning and we hurried to get dressed before Mog came to take us back to the camp. We were slightly confused by his bringing us here in the first place, but I for one was very, VERY glad to have had some alone time with Roxas away from prying ears of the rest of the crew. It was amusing to find we'd both come prepared for the eventuality of...furthering our physical relationship. It was comforting for both of us to know that the other desired us as much as we desired him. Whilst waiting for the moogle, we packed our bags and ate an apple each. I was distracted momentarily by the pompom fruit and put it in my pocket as Roxas called out to Mog, waving._

_Mog greeted us peculiarly, gazing at our foreheads as if trying to read our minds and looking rather upset before smiling at us knowingly, making us both feel like he knew exactly what went on the night before. As we all walked back to camp, Mog explained to us why we'd been left under that tree all night. It was the Moguri version of an engagement ceremony. Young couples spent at least half a day beneath the sheltering branches of one of the trees and were gifted with something if the tree believed that they were ready to become mates. If this happened the now engaged couple returned to their homes and their families would prepare a wedding for them. It needn't happen immediately but in the next year they would take their vows and become mates for life. Roxas looked bothered by this. "So the tree doesn't think Axel and I will make a good couple?" He asked, bottom lip pouting adorably. Mog shook his head._

"_I don't know that it works for you humans, when Marluxia and Larxene tried, the tree didn't gift them either. It's not surprising really, you humans don't have one so it would never work." Roxas looked confused as Mog touched his antenna, not sure what he meant by his statement. I suddenly remembered the fruit falling from the tree and dug around in my pocket, pulling it out and holding it in the palm of my hand. It felt warm._

"_Hey, Mog?" I asked, pausing as he and Roxas turned to look at me. "Last night, after Rox and I...ah...went to bed..." I curled my toes in my boots uncomfortably. "This fell and hit Roxas on the head." I held out the pompom to give to Mog when the moogle let out a shriek and did some kind of victory dance around us before faltering and looking from me to Roxas to the pompom in my hand._

"_But...but, it's not attached. Oh my, what to do? It'll die!" the moogle wailed. Roxas and I exchanged a glance, my boyfriend swiftly enfolding the distressed moogle in a comforting hug until he could explain to us what was wrong._

_Turns out that the tree is how the Moguri reproduce. The fruits, pompoms, fall from the tree when the Moguri couple are worthy of having a child and it attaches itself to their pompom which acts like a placenta, the antenna a kind of umbilical cord. The whole explanation was kind of lost on me since there was a phrase...well, more an incredulous question...flitting around my brain at the speed of light. It took me a long while, staring down at the inoffensive pompom before I could word my preoccupation. "WAIT!" I shouted at Mog and Roxas who were talking about how they could save the baby from fostering (which wouldn't work since the tree had given the child to us) to science. "We're PREGNANT!" I had never heard my own voice take on such a shrill tone. Mog and Roxas gazed at me for a second, glanced at each other and then Roxas came over to hug me._

"_It's OK, Axel. We'll figure it out." Roxas soothed me. "I'm sure we can use something...we'll talk to my dad and the captain...If we can artificially incubate a foetus, surely we can do the same for the moogle baby." My face scrunched up as I rapidly shook my head._

"_I...want us to carry it." I said quietly, holding the inoffensive pompom in my hands. Mog looked up at me, hope shining in his eyes._

"_But we don't have an antenna Axel; neither of us can carry the baby." My eyes lit up in sudden realisation and one hand shot out to lift Roxas' top up to expose his flat stomach as I crouched before him. The blue and green pompom fit perfectly in the hollow of Roxas' navel and before I knew it the blond boy gasped and the pompom was stuck. My mouth fell open and I looked up at my boyfriend with wide eyes, fearing he'd been hurt. He smiled warmly down at me. "Yes, Axel, we...well...I'm pregnant." We both let out a small laugh, more shocked than anything as Mog congratulated us._

**III –**_** Angels with Only One Wing**_

We are, each of us, angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other.  
~ Luciano DeCrescenzo

_I cannot describe how nervous I was, returning to camp and telling everyone that a, Roxas and I were getting married and b, Roxas and I were having a baby. The second after that pompom fused to Roxas, I felt more bound to him than ever before. We were going to have a baby, despite the fact that it was almost certain to be a moogle child; we were going to be parents of a child that one of us carried. How many male couples could say that? Mog told us a bit about Moguri childbirth and it was kind of like ours, and kind of like a plant. Weird, I know. So, getting down on one knee I asked Roxas to marry me and presented him with the ring I'd carved from a peculiar bit of wood (which turned out to be one of the pompom tree antennae) which was a silvery colour which glistened with golden flecks in the light. It wasn't finished, and I was actually surprised it fit Roxas' finger perfectly when his beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and he said yes. It wasn't like we'd been together for very long, and I wasn't one to want to rush our relationship. I hadn't been making the ring with anyone or anything in mind, other than the fact that it'd look nice on my necklace along with the other charms and pendants I'd collected. Looking at the ring on my boyfri-...no, my fiancé's finger, I felt choked up and swept him into my arms for a kiss. Although it hadn't been a planned proposal, I couldn't have been happier._

_Despite my discomfort at introducing my glowing fiancé to the crew and the awkward (carefully edited) telling of how Roxas was pregnant, we both were congratulated and cooed over by both our human and Moguri friends. Roxas would be pregnant for at least 9 months, perhaps more according to Mog, but we would know when the child was due by the fact the pompom barely showing from its buried position in Roxas' navel would change colour. Since Roxas was declared not able to fly out to '_Oblivion_' in his condition due to the pull whilst flying through the planet's atmosphere, I left to let our parents know what was going on. If anything it was more difficult to tell them than it had been to tell the people on the Moguri Planet. Of course, mum and dad were both plainly thrilled and asked the Captain's permission to return with me. Since the ship was safely nestled in orbit around the planet, technically able to sustain its position without any input from the crew, the Captain said that it was fine; he'd been planning on giving the whole crew 'shore leave' anyway. Telling Cloud and Lily went fine as well, but I knew it was difficult for them to not be able to see Roxas, wanting to stay with Naminé. However, she only had two months to go before reaching the same stage Roxas did when he emerged from the AGS pod, and seeing how their son had grown up encouraged his parents to emulate the same time length with their youngest. I peered into the AGS pod before leaving, Naminé was had grown into a delicate toddler and her wispy hair had lightened to a shade very close to snow white. She was beautiful. Cloud shook my hand and told me to look after Roxas as I left. Lily gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before pressing a book and a baby blanket into my hands. The blanket had been in her family for generations and the book was to help Roxas and I in learning the ins and outs of pregnancy. Coupled with all the support from the parents already in the crew and the excited Moguri, Roxas couldn't have been in safer hands._

_When I returned to mine and Roxas' tent I went into a slight tizz to find the area bereft of anything to show it had been occupied for the last month. My parents stood behind me looking quizzical when Mog's mate Millie popped up in front of me, eyed my parents with slight nervousness and then tugged my trouser leg to get my attention. "We've moved Roxas closer to the others just in case he needs help quickly, are these your parents?" she asked, politely blinking up at mum and dad. Once I'd introduced everyone, Millie led us to Roxas who was looking flustered as Xigbar and Lexaeus set up our tent and fussed around setting out our belongings. He was trying to convince Xemnas that I would want to set the fire, to please leave it alone when I stepped up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I felt like a piece of me had been given back. I hadn't realised how much I missed Roxas until I was holding him, I guess it makes sense seeing that we haven't been apart for over half a year now. The second he felt my arms around him, Roxas melted back into my chest, breathing out easily._

"_I missed you." I murmured into his ear and received a low hum in response. My mother, not one to hang back when hugging was going on, very nearly leapt on us, cooing about how cute we were and how excited and pleased she was for us. Taking a certain degree of delight in leaving Roxas to fend for himself against my parent's well wishes I took my time in creating a fire pit and laying a fire ready for that evening. I was touched to see that someone had gone to the trouble of collecting some firewood for us, cutting it down to size and neatly staking it beside the tent under a small tarpaulin to keep it dry. Returning to rescue Roxas I directed my cheerful parents into Xigbar's care and asked him to help them get settled. The dark haired man gave me a salute and set off, flirting atrociously with my mother. Grinning at Roxas, I handed him the book and the blanket, watching my love brush tender fingers over the soft material. Leaving Roxas to sentimental memories for a while, I turned to watch Xigbar and my parents crossing the wide area dotted with tents. The scar faced man was an awful flirt, he had even been caught flirting with some of the Moguri females who tittered and nudged each other whenever he walked past. However, I would bet almost anything that Xigbar's flirting was a device to gain Xaldin's attention. The quiet man with dreadlocked hair liked to cook but was generally very withdrawn._

_The wedding was completely snatched from our hands as the whole two communities ganged together and began planning for us. Things only sped up when Cloud, Lily and little Naminé arrived. The adorable child was left in our care more often than not as her and Roxas' parents threw themselves into the planning process. Before long we found ourselves in the company of Naminé and all of the Moguri children old enough to be apart from their mothers but too young to be of help. I thought at first that I might implode with the stress of caring for my pregnant fiancé (who was following in his mother's footsteps and craving the most bizarre foodstuffs possible. One of which being a type of _**worm**_ which according to the Moguri mothers was full of good things and ignoring my protests fed it to Roxas) along with a gaggle of prepubescent children. However, I actually found myself enjoying the time I spent organizing games to play and sessions of drawing (which Nami loved to do). Roxas and I took the kids walking and swimming in the lake, Demyx joined us every time we went swimming and worked on teaching all of the children how to swim properly. Zexion came and told stories every so often and Xaldin teamed up with some of the best Moguri cooks to keep Roxas' diet varied._

_The day before the wedding, Roxas and I were forced apart to spend the last day of our 'singleton stage of life' being pampered and celebrating the dwindling hours before we were wed. Roxas, as designated 'bride' was swarmed over by a gaggle of females and a smattering of guys including Demyx, Zexion, Cloud and Xigbar (no surprises there, where there were women to flirt with). This left me attended by a bunch of guys who all decided that following Luxord's idea of drinking and gambling would be fun. The Moguri males avoided alcohol as if it were pure poison and dragged me off to take part in various competitions of skill. After the sun had reached its height, we all ate until we fell asleep and upon waking traipsed off to soak in the hot springs. After a while, a group of female Moguri came, making all us human guys scramble to hide any bits on show. They spent a long time smothering me in various 'healthful' muds. They scrubbed and rinsed and soaked and polished at me until I felt like I was sparkling. The only thing I refused to let them do was to cut my hair. They did extract the promise from me that I would let them to style my hair for the wedding._

_The next day dawned with my stomach full of butterflies, I was tackled by a plethora of women, brushing and teasing my hair into a tame...ish ponytail. I still had a few spikes escaping the confines of whatever they'd used to tie it but it was much neater than my usually disarray of spikes. Having suffered this, I was then cajoled into what I originally thought was a dress. "Woah, woah, woah!" I complained as three Moguri tried to force the garment over my head. "I thought Roxas was the 'bride'!" I was ignored but once they'd dressed me I realised it was a black tunic decorated with silver thread flames. I was then forced into what I originally dreaded to be deep purple coloured tights, however, I was proven wrong when I realised that tights had feet. So I was wearing...footless tights? Leggings? I don't know, I wasn't happy about it but was ushered out of camp and tugged along closer to the forest. As we reached the top of one of the rolling hills, I was greeted by the sight and scent of hundreds upon hundreds of flowers. Everyone was seated on brightly coloured pillows either side of a wide aisle, positioned so that the shortest guests were seated at the front and the tallest at the back. Mine and Roxas' families were seated on a raised dais upon which I assumed the ceremony was to take place due to the presence of both Mog and the Captain. My eyes raked the area but didn't spot the one person I felt I needed to see most. The Moguri accompanying me seemed to follow my train of thoughts. "It is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding." I was informed before being tugged down to the end of the aisle. Then, I was left to walk it alone, eyes fixed on Mog as I tried to ignore all of the guests staring at me. This wedding business was scary stuff._

_Climbing up onto the dais, I was kissed by Mum, Lily and Naminé and had my hand clasped by each of the men. Then I was positioned directly beneath a bower heavily laden with flowers which were emitting a pleasant scent. I breathed in deeply and watched as Naminé got up from her seat and went off on some secret mission. I felt faint, all eyes were on me, I was wearing a ridiculous outfit and Roxas wasn't here yet. I'd assumed that all the rushing was because my soon to be husband was already waiting. But that apparently was not the case. Before my steamrolling brain could work me up into a visible state of panic, I was blinded. Squinting my eyes almost closed, I realised that the sun was rising high enough to crest the gap between two hills and was now sat seemingly in the branches of an ancient pompom tree that no longer held any pompoms. As my eyes adjusted to the glare, an ethereal being stepped out from behind the hill, casting flower petals in its wake. It wasn't until she reached the beginning of the aisle that I recognised Naminé in her floating white dress. She walked to the dais, smiled brightly at me, adorable in her tiny doll like beauty, and returned to sit beside her beaming mother. A hush fell over the guests and I turned my eyes back to the sun sat in the tree. Oddly enough, it seemed to have taken on a glowing pink colour, more rosy and bright than that of the pale pink moon. Out of this blushing light stepped Roxas. _

_The boy shimmered as he followed the trail of petals. He'd been dressed in sky blue leggings which clung enticingly to his legs. His tunic was a deep twilight blue and embroidered with silver stars. Over that clung a gauzy material, even more floating than Naminé's dress. It shimmered with an opalescent sheen and made Roxas appear to be floating. I was forcibly reminded of Roxas, as small as Naminé, dressed as an angel for that nativity. He was stunning. Even his hair shimmered in the light, and as he came closer I realised that someone, somehow, had entwined delicate silver through Roxas' blond spikes which carefully supported dazzling opals and shinning crystals. My heart felt like it was about to burst as Roxas ascended the Dais and placed his hand into mine, warm like an ember, and turned his oceanic blue eyes to meet mine. Everything felt right. The ceremony passed in a blur. As the sun left the tree, Roxas and I turned, hand in hand and were presented to the gathered guests as a married couple. Flower petals were thrown at us as we raced the length of the aisle and climbed to the pompom tree that had watched over our ceremony. In a typical Moguri wedding ceremony, at this point the newly married couple would embrace, kiss their first married kiss and then flutter into the branches of the ancient tree, each only using one wing. This symbolised the fact that they now would always need the other to be whole. Luckily, Roxas and I were spared this ritual and simply hugged before I lifted Roxas' chin with one finger. He smiled up at me and whispered, "You may now kiss the bride." And I did._

**IV –**_**Till the Day I Die**_

A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart till the day you die.  
~ Mary Mason

_A week after our wedding, Roxas and I returned from our 'honey moon' camping near the hot springs and found the whole campsite devoid of life. We pitched our tent in the spot it had been moved to for the period of Roxas' pregnancy and collected our various pieces of furniture from where we'd stored them. I laid a fire but didn't light it and, since no one had shown up yet, the pair of us traipsed our way down to the lake for a swim. I'd gotten over my distaste of the water and raced my husband to the water's edge, stripped down to my skin and dashed into the frigid water with what I like to imagine was a manly yell. Roxas splashed in after me a few seconds later with an adorable squeak at the temperature. I spun around to give him a hug and floundered to a standstill, arms outstretched, until Roxas stumbled into my chest and snuggled in close. It took him all of two seconds to realise I wasn't enfolding my arms around him and his beautiful blue eyes came up to capture mine. "What's wrong babe?" he asked me, obviously slightly worried by my stationary position. I blinked at him, finally rousing myself and carefully placed my hands on his shoulders to keep him still as I took two steps back from him. Roxas was about waist deep in the water, I looked down to where the water lapped at his flesh and goggled like a fish, mouth gaping open and closed as I tried to form words. At first Roxas blushed at the direction of my gaze, but soon he followed my line of sight and stared down at his navel. Where the pompom carrying our child had been a swirling pattern of blue and green, it was now a deep red glimmering with gold. Mine and Roxas' eyes met for a split second before I scooped him into my arms and streaked back to our tent yelling._

"_The baby's coming!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, completely oblivious to Roxas' struggling and cries of 'Our clothes!' I did not care that we were both absolutely stark naked, galloping past horrified men and women from both the Moguri and the humans. I was in panic stricken father mode. I screeched to a halt in the space where we'd set up our tent about half an hour ago. There was nothing there to say the bit of land had ever been occupied. I shakily walked a circle around the space, still holding Roxas in my arms. "But...where...why!" I wailed, ignoring what I assumed to be Roxas tapping my leg insistently._

"_Hey!" Roxas huffed, removing his arms from their strangle hold around my neck to cup my face and force my eyes to meet his. Once the gorgeous boy in my arms had my undivided attention, he directed it downwards. My gaze was met by a young Moguri male who resembled a rabbit more than Mog's feline appearance. Once he had my attention the moogle let out a relieved sound and swiftly turned from the naked spectacle before him, skipping away towards where our original camp site was. Meeting Roxas' gaze for a second, noting he was blushing as much as I, I followed the moogle. _

_When we crested a hill I had to stop and stare. The area where Roxas and I had made camp upon first arriving on the Moguri planet had been abandoned once Roxas became 'pregnant'. Now, sitting roughly where our tent had once stood was a beautiful log cabin with a wide porch at the front. It was two stories tall with a gorgeous gabled roof and huge picture windows. Our family (mine and Roxas' families were now considered one and were very close) was stood on the porch, originally beaming up at us but slowly their expressions were transforming either into embarrassment or horror. Our friends were ranged amongst the carefully sculpted garden, probably designed by Lex and Marly, all of them showing similar expressions to our family (except for Demyx and Xigbar who were both grinning). It was after I noticed the two grinning idiots that I realised Roxas and I were standing in all our naked glory, highlighted by the sun's 'helpful' rays. Blushing, I charged down the slope and onto the porch. "THE BABY'S COMING!" I practically screamed._

_The next events transpired in a blur. I was whisked into the house and convinced to deposit Roxas onto his feet. A pair of soft, stretchy pyjama bottoms were shoved into each of our hands and we wasted no time in donning them. I clasped Roxas' hand tightly in my own as we were shoved unceremoniously on a comfortable chair big enough for the pair of us to curl up together on. Lily rushed over to tuck a large blanket around our legs and my mum came to press a steaming mug of some drink into our hands. After sipping about half of the drink, I began to calm down enough to actually appreciate the taste. I raised an eyebrow at my mother, recognising the distinctive flavour of a calming tea. Roxas flopped against my side, his head lolling comfortably against my bare chest. Our family gathered around the room, copying the calm poses of Mog and Millie. The thought fluttered around my mind that childbirth was meant to be a messy business, full of pain and screaming. I glanced down at Roxas to see a content smile gracing his lips as he trailed fingertips across his stomach. I eyed the glimmering pompom nervously, wondering how the baby would be born...considering the fact Roxas didn't have the necessary anatomy...although; he didn't have the anatomical features to actually carry a child. I was about to speak my concerns when Roxas let out a breathy chuckle, his hands pressing to his stomach as he squirmed a little._

_I watched in absolute amazement (tinged with slight horror) as the pompom settled in Roxas' navel slowly began to unfurl like a flower bud. The blond by my side turned wondering and slightly anxious eyes up to mine and I smiled reassuringly down at him, curving my fingers around his. All eyes turned to watch the pompom unfold slowly, slivers of golden light emitted from it until the light blazed bright enough to force everyone to close their eyes. A low wail made me snap my eyes open, automatically searching Roxas out. I stared at my husband who was gazing down at his stomach. Sat there, wailing louder now, was a tiny moogle. It appeared to be more lupine than any of the Moguri I'd met, but it also had some human features. Instead of a pompom the little thing had two silvery white horns. It's hair was red like mine but shot through with golden streaks. It had tiny floppy ears like a puppy and a tail curled tightly around it's body, coloured to match it's hair. The tiny thing's eyes were scrunched up as it wailed, but when Roxas reached out to tenderly scoop it into his hands, it opened it's eyes. They were dazzling, coloured as the pompom had originally been, a subtle swirl of blue and green, the outer iris being blue and shading to green around the pupil. The babe blinked at Roxas and let out a smaller wail, obviously demanding food._

_Millie gently patted my knee and passed me a tiny bottle filled with a pinkish coloured liquid. She smiled as I passed Roxas the feeding implement and spoke softly, "Congratulations on the birth of your son. He is beautiful." I goggled at her for a few seconds before smiling shakily and wrapping myself around Roxas, careful not to jostle our nursing son. Roxas' shinning eyes met mine and I felt a tear run down my cheek. The child was nothing like I had pictured him, he was better; a blending of our heritage and that of the planet Roxas and I had decided would be our home._

_**V - The greatest happiness**_

When you look at your life, the greatest happiness' are family happiness'. ~Joyce Brothers

_Faolán grew up quicker than anyone expected, and I don't mean that in the way normal parents mean it. Considering our 'little wolf' fit in the palm of one of Roxas' tiny hands at birth, he was the size of a large two year old in a fortnight. The little tyke's wings unfurled in this time, revealing one to look angelic and one to look bat-like, rather similar to the hilts of Roxas' two keyblades. He was the most energetic, happy child I ever had the joy to witness. And, although he was a bit of a trouble maker (taking after yours truly) he was also a very well mannered boy, polite to a fault and always willing to lend a hand. As he got bigger, Faolán looked less and less like a puppy chibi doll and more human in his childlike chubbiness. He retained his floppy ears and soft tail, but his hands stretched out of their paw forms and became proper little hands. His feet were still paws and he distained the use of shoes, but her really didn't need them. Roxas and I doted on the little guy, he brought a sense of family into our little married life and we really couldn't imagine living without him. '_Oblivion_' couldn't stay orbiting the planet forever, and left us behind; the crew still had a job to do. We knew they'd visit again soon and were content in bringing our little boy up._

_When the starship next visited, Marluxia and Larxene had been married and now had a beautiful daughter with pink tinged blonde hair that Marly insisted was natural. Roxas had a baby brother named Sora who shared his big blue eyes but had brunet hair rather than blond. Sora adored Faolán and the pair of them caused havoc amongst the campsite of the visiting space farers. Roxas was worried that the adventure of open space would tempt our son away from us and his home, but – although he nagged and pestered hundreds of stories out of Xigbar – he always came home chattering about wanting to build a tree house with me that summer, or how maybe we could all go and camp in the mountains some time soon. Demyx and Zexion were the next couple to choose to settle down with us, Demyx shyly showing off the pompom secured in his navel and blushing as Zexy wrapped a possessive arm around his waist. Their daughter was a gorgeous creature when she was born, all fragile and birdlike as she shook her mane of blue hair back from her delicate face and brushed the little spiky hairs atop her head against Demyx's chin, demanding food. Aleta was a very amusing little girl, she was exuberant and joyful like Demyx, loving to sing and dance. But she was also wise and quiet like Zexion and adored to curl up with a book. She and Faolán grew up together, teasing and fighting each other, but also standing up for each other and sharing secrets._

_The next time the starfarers landed, Xemnas and Saix settled down together as did Xigbar and Xaldin. The eldest of us space children was looking older than all of us, his hair shot through with silver streaks. He had mellowed down in the intervening years and Xaldin kept him in check. The eye patched man adored the children still and, though he and Xaldin never had their own, their home was always to be filled with shrieking children and nothing made the two men happier. Rox and I met were introduced to Sora's wife, Kairi, who he had met on a rare return trip to earth. They had a son together named Riku who was stunning with his soft silver hair and almost glowing aquamarine eyes. They decided to remain in space, at least for a few more years._

_We were content. We'd made a home among the Moguri and had family and friends. We never did have another child, but adopted orphaned Moguri children when it occurred that there was no family to take the bereft little ones in. Faolán and Aleta provided Roxas, Zexion, Demyx and me with a veritable horde of grandchildren before any of us even began to show any signs of age. We were overjoyed to welcome our great-grand-kids into the world as we hit the stage in life that begins to mellow you slightly. Roxas and I could often be found watching the sunset from the hill behind our home. We didn't feel _old_ per se; we just started to take life at a more relaxed pace, enjoying the little things, taking excitement in short doses when the family descended upon us. We were as close as we always had been, right from the moment I had fallen for that little angel, way back amongst the stars._

**A.N - **Thank you to all of you who have read, favourited and alerted this story. A special shout out to Lifeslover, Wolfwings and Lordgolden for REVIEWING! You guys, I must say, I love you. lol. I never knew how fuzzy and warm a review could make me feel! I hope the epilogue hasn't disappointed you. I will likely add more stories - probably not as long as this one, but we'll see - so please feel free to browse through my profile and send me messages to kick me into writing. XD

_**Dreamy xxx**_


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